Watch House Battery | |
---|---|
Devon England | |
Coordinates | Coordinates: 50°19′27″N 4°6′56″W / 50.32417°N 4.11556°W |
Site information | |
Open to the public | No |
Condition | Complete; disarmed |
Site history | |
Built | 1864-1865; Rebuilt 1901-1904 |
Materials |
Earth Concrete |
Watch House Battery is a former 19th-century gun battery, built as one of a number of batteries to defend the Eastern approaches to Plymouth Sound, for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport.
The battery was originally built as a small pentagonal redoubt with emplacements for five guns. By 1893 it was armed with two 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading Guns. In 1901 the battery was reconstructed for two 6-inch Mark VII breech loading guns with the work being completed in 1903.[1] During the First World War the battery was manned by the Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery.[2]
After the Second World War the battery remained armed until the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom in 1956 when it was disarmed.[3] It was released by the military and subsequently used as a children's activity centre for some years.[4] It was Grade II listed in 1969.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Maps and Plans, Watch House Battery 1904-40, The National Archives, WO78/5058
- ↑ Col K W Maurice-Jones, 1959. The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army, Royal Artillery Institution, London, p187
- ↑ Fort Record book, Watch House Battery 1901-53, The National Archives, WO192/292
- ↑ https://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/watchhouse.pdf
- ↑ "Staddon Height Defences - 1002585". Historic England. 2014-02-27. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1002585. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
Bibliography[]
- Woodward, Freddy (1996). The Historic Defences of Plymouth. Cornwall County Council. ISBN 978-1898166467.
External sources[]
The original article can be found at Watch House Battery and the edit history here.