A collection of features including a crumbling stone and concrete jetty, linear wooden piles (Yair on O.S. map) and 2 abandoned boats. Located in intertidal zone and under threat from erosion. Jetty is 40m x 8m. Boats; 15m long, 10m long and 4m long.
ShoreUPDATE 21/10/2015
The yair sits on the east side of the river, the slipway and boats are on the west coast.
The slipway was part of the Second World War RAF Air Sea Rescue base at Gibbhill (in use from 1941 to 1944), and is of typical wartime prefab construction. The top is capped with large flat concrete slabs. The landward end is constructed of concrete sandbags, the seaward end is of concrete poured into corrugated shuttering.
The southernmost boat is the smaller of the two, and sits 15m to the north of the slipway. A mooring rope runs from the boat to a large timber post adjacent to the slipway. The boat is built of wood, and survives up to 7m in length, but was originally longer. Survives up to 0.5m in height. Clinker construction with copper alloy fastenings. The front 3.5m of the hull is better-preserved; frames and planking survive on both port and starboard sides, and one floor remains in situ towards the front. One internal plank survives in the starboard side towards the front. The base of the stem post survives, and the keel/keelson survives to a length of 7m.
The northern boat is much larger, c.15m long, appears to be a wooden trawler, settled on its starboard side, with an iron frame at the stern. Wooden carvel build, with iron fittings. Almost the entire hull survives to deck level although there is fire damage on the uppermost exposed port side planking. The stem post survives to its full height, and has evidence of iron sheathing. The hull is largely intact; keel, keelson, deadwood, stem post, floors, frames survive to top timber, internal and external planking, decking and knees all present. A lower deck survives in areas, and superstructure and elements of deck equipment including rusted chains lie in the interior, possibly fallen in when the deck collapsed. Poured concrete ballast sits in situ. The rudder is detached and lies beneath the stern, and a possible exhaust pipe is visible at the stern. Surface treatment includes red paint and pitch. Regular pattern of holes drilled into the external planking below the waterline, later plugged with wood. This suggests that the vessel was a 'wetwell trawler', with a free flooded area of the hull (contained by watertight bulkheads) to allow the catch to be kept alive and fresh before landing, later returned to a conventional trawler by plugging the holes to make the hull watertight.
Various detached metal and timber elements lie loose on the foreshore, though not all are necessarily related to the hulks.
ShoreUPDATE October 2019
Surveyed as part of the Galloway Glens Solway Firth Partnership Kirkcudbright Bay Views project, which focused on the remains of the trawler, identified as the Fauna. Summary results in the SCAPE blog post https://scapetrust.org/fauna-kirkcudbright-bay/ A 3d model is available on sketchfab https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/the-fauna-kirkcudbright-bay-da30e22d20a849dc88f9fe18abbb6a0c
As described, but condition is deteriorating, and the integrity of the hull is being compromised. The change is visible in a series of photos taken from the same angle from 2010 to 2019.
Location
267320.00
550550.00
27700
54.8321495
-4.0671458
Submitted photographs
Image
Date
Caption
User
05/10/2019
October 2019: showing deterioration since 2015
training1
21/10/2015
RAF slipway
training1
21/10/2015
Gibbhill yair on the east bank
training1
21/10/2015
Smaller southern boat
training1
21/10/2015
Smaller southern boat
training1
21/10/2015
view of the two boats
training1
21/10/2015
larger northern boat
training1
21/10/2015
October 2015: larger northern boat
training1
21/10/2015
larger northern boat
training1
21/10/2015
larger northern boat - detached rudder
training1
21/10/2015
larger northern boat
training1
21/10/2015
larger northern boat
training1
Submitted updates
Update id
Date
User
3308
05/10/2019
training1
Description
ShoreUPDATE October 2019
Surveyed as part of the Galloway Glens Solway Firth Partnership Kirkcudbright Bay Views project, which focused on the remains of the trawler, identified as the Fauna. Summary results in the SCAPE blog post https://scapetrust.org/fauna-kirkcudbright-bay/ A 3d model is available on sketchfab https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/the-fauna-kirkcudbright-bay-da30e22d20a849dc88f9fe18abbb6a0c
As described, but condition is deteriorating, and the integrity of the hull is being compromised. The change is visible in a series of photos taken from the same angle from 2010 to 2019.
2259
21/10/2015
training1
Tidal state
Low
Site located?
Yes
Proximity to coast edge
Intertidal
Description
A collection of features including a crumbling stone and concrete jetty, linear wooden piles (Yair on O.S. map) and 2 abandoned boats. Located in intertidal zone and under threat from erosion. Jetty is 40m x 8m. Boats; 15m long, 10m long and 4m long.
ShoreUPDATE 21/10/2015
The yair sits on the east side of the river, the slipway and boats are on the west coast.
The slipway was part of the Second World War RAF Air Sea Rescue base at Gibbhill (in use from 1941 to 1944), and is of typical wartime prefab construction. The top is capped with large flat concrete slabs. The landward end is constructed of concrete sandbags, the seaward end is of concrete poured into corrugated shuttering.
The southernmost boat is the smaller of the two, and sits 15m to the north of the slipway. A mooring rope runs from the boat to a large timber post adjacent to the slipway. The boat is built of wood, and survives up to 7m in length, but was originally longer. Survives up to 0.5m in height. Clinker construction with copper alloy fastenings. The front 3.5m of the hull is better-preserved; frames and planking survive on both port and starboard sides, and one floor remains in situ towards the front. One internal plank survives in the starboard side towards the front. The base of the stem post survives, and the keel/keelson survives to a length of 7m.
The northern boat is much larger, c.15m long, appears to be a wooden trawler, settled on its starboard side, with an iron frame at the stern. Wooden carvel build, with iron fittings. Almost the entire hull survives to deck level although there is fire damage on the uppermost exposed port side planking. The stem post survives to its full height, and has evidence of iron sheathing. The hull is largely intact; keel, keelson, deadwood, stem post, floors, frames survive to top timber, internal and external planking, decking and knees all present. A lower deck survives in areas, and superstructure and elements of deck equipment including rusted chains lie in the interior, possibly fallen in when the deck collapsed. Poured concrete ballast sits in situ. The rudder is detached and lies beneath the stern, and a possible exhaust pipe is visible at the stern. Surface treatment includes red paint and pitch. Regular pattern of holes drilled into the external planking below the waterline, later plugged with wood. This suggests that the vessel was a 'wetwell trawler', with a free flooded area of the hull (contained by watertight bulkheads) to allow the catch to be kept alive and fresh before landing, later returned to a conventional trawler by plugging the holes to make the hull watertight.
Various detached metal and timber elements lie loose on the foreshore, though not all are necessarily related to the hulks.
Slipway - remove from priorities
Boats and yair - reassign to priority 3