Defence Heritage
Northern Ireland’s defence heritage represents a significant period in our history. There are many 20th-century defensive structures dotted around the countryside and coast of Northern Ireland. These include training trenches, gun and searchlight emplacements, pillboxes, observation posts, airfields, harbours, naval and flying boat bases, air raid shelters, and many other related structures. The majority of these are derelict, some have been reused or altered, and others are in a state of decay or have been demolished.
Surveying Defence Heritage sites
In 1995 the Defence of Britain Project was launched by The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) to coordinate recording work undertaken by volunteers. Two years later Northern Ireland joined the project with the Defence Heritage Project (DHP). A small number of dedicated volunteers amassed an impressive record of many aspects of our defence heritage, and over 300 sites of interest were recorded.
Following on from the successful 1997 Defence Heritage Project, in 2014 HED launched phase two of the DHP. Volunteers were called upon to help record the remaining 20th-century defences.
The efforts of the DHP volunteers formed the core of the Defence Heritage Record, and although an essential first step, an audit in 2018 demonstrated that the Defence Heritage Record significantly underrepresented the scale of sites in Northern Ireland.
This resulted in HED commissioning a full-scale survey, undertaken from 2020-2022. The survey has identified over 4500 sites.
The document,The Defence Heritage Record (DHR) The Survey Project 2020-2024 provides information on Northern Ireland’s Defence Heritage Record (DHR), the results of the recent survey and how to access the record through HERoNI.
Protecting our Defence Heritage
Historic Environment Division works to protect sites of interest through both legislation and policy. The most appropriate form of protection is identified on an individual site basis.
A number of sites have been scheduled for protection under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995. These include a fighter pilot dome trainer, which is unique in Northern Ireland, and a variety of pill boxes.
Other sites have been Listed for protection under Section 80 of the Planning Act (NI) 2011, such as the control tower and associated buildings at Langford Lodge, Crumlin.
We also work with District Councils to ensure defence heritage sites are given due consideration when dealing with new development applications.
Accessing the Defence Heritage Record (DHR)
The record is available via the Historic Environment Map Viewer.