War Memorial,
Balmashanner Hill, Forfar
Balmashanner Hill
War memorials vary in their scale and design, but few have the presence of the tower on Balmashanner Hill, known locally as "Boammie". Built between 1920 and 1921 to the design of architect T. R. Soutar, this war memorial to the dead of World War 1 is a battlemented and turreted tower of local sandstone. It is very similar in outline to the 1901 Airlie Monument on Tulloch Hill at the foot of Glen Prosen.
Architecture
The plinth of the tower is splayed out towards the ground. At the top there is a small projecting tower called a bartizan and the parapet is crenellated. The parapet itself is corbelled, or cantilevered, outwards on machiolations. In a true fortified tower these machiolations would have contained openings for defenders to fire through.
Panoramic Views
The high vantage point affords extensive views over the Vale of Strathmore to the west and the Braes of Angus to the north. Close to the War Memorial is a shelter and indicator gifted to the town in 1929 by James Anderson, a Forfar businessman and financier. The indicator describes the names and heights of the mountains of the surrounding hills.
© Angus Council 1998 - 2008