Firing Range at 34 Glasgort Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 5AF

Firing Range at 34 Glasgort Road, Coleraine

A tall red brick firing range erected around 1942 as part of RAF Mullaghmore airfield nearby. The structure is set on a northwest to southeast axis on the west side of Glasgort Road, positioned as part of a collection of red brick military structures.

The building is constructed of machine-made red brick laid in Dutch bond with cement pointing. It stands approximately four metres tall and is supported on both sides by three-stage brick buttresses with cement offsets. It has no roof or windows, and there is no rainwater guttering. The utilitarian design commands a strong presence in the landscape and serves as a physical reminder of Northern Ireland's role in the Second World War.

The aerodrome at Mullaghmore first opened in August 1942 and was initially occupied by the US 8th Airforce Composite Command, which ran a Parachute Maintenance Company at the site. The RAF took over in May 1944 for training purposes. RAF Coastal Command used the airfield from September 1944 to March 1945 to accommodate Fleet Air Arm Squadrons 825, 850 and 815, which carried out anti-U-boat sorties close to the coast in response to concerns about German submarines operating in shallower waters. The air-sea rescue unit, 281 Squadron, was also stationed there. The firing range was erected by the RAF in 1944 as identified on Ordnance Survey maps from the 1960s and 1970s. An inspection by valuers in October 1944 documented wooden and asbestos huts and brick "butts" in the townland of Glasgort beside the aerodrome. The structure appears more likely to have served as a personnel firing range rather than as a machine gun and cannon butts for aircraft, given the absence of hard standing that would have been necessary for moving aircraft from the runway.

The building stands in a rural setting close to an airfield currently in use as a driving circuit.