Beacon Hill Battery | |
---|---|
Harwich Essex England | |
Coordinates | 51°56′17″N1°17′21″E / 51.9381°N 1.2892°E |
Type | Coastal fortification |
Site information | |
Owner | private |
Condition | At risk |
Site history | |
Built | 1889-92 |
Materials | Earth Concrete |
Beacon Hill Battery (also known as Beacon Hill Fort) is a late-19th and 20th century coastal fortification that was built to defend the port of Harwich, Essex. It is a scheduled ancient monument. [1]
Beacon Hill is a promontory on the Harwich peninsula, about one kilometre south of the town. It overlooks the estuaries of the Stour and Orwell rivers on the approach to the harbour, which has been an important civil and naval port since the Middle Ages. [1]
The first fortification built on the site was one of three blockhouses, constructed at Harwich during the reign of Henry VIII, following his visit to the town in 1543. These were Device Forts, built at Tower House, Middle House and the House-upon-the-Hill. They were abandoned within ten years, only to be briefly revived in 1588, owing to the threat posed by the Spanish Armada. By 1625 the site had again fallen into disrepair and Harwich was considered to be defenceless. The site of the actual blockhouse was destroyed by erosion. [2]
A nearby site was chosen for Harwich Barracks. These were built in 1803. The original occupants were the West Essex Regiment and the Royal Buckinghamshire Militia. [3] On the promontory itself, an earthen artillery battery of five 24-pounder guns was constructed in 1812, intended to supplement the larger Harwich Redoubt, which had been completed 200 yards (180 m) to the north in 1810 and was armed with ten 24-pounders. By 1822, the battery had been lost to erosion, and a replacement planned in 1839 was not built. [1]
In 1887, renewed fear of a French invasion prompted the Secretary of State for War, Edward Stanhope, to chair a committee on the "Fortifications and Armaments of Military and Mercantile Ports". [4] One of the results of the committee's report was the ordering of a new artillery battery at Beacon Hill in September 1888; work had been completed by May 1892. The battery was built to an innovative design; an artificial mound in the centre of the promontory served to conceal the underground magazines, shelters and ancillary buildings, while creating a natural-looking profile against which, the lighter weapons at the foot of the mound would be difficult to see. The rear of the work was protected by a defensive perimeter built to a new design called the Twydall Profile, consisting of an earthen rampart, fronted by a glacis sloping down to a shallow ditch that concealed a steel palisade fence. [1]
The battery was powerfully armed with a single BL 10-inch gun and a single BL 6-inch gun on a hydro-pneumatic disappearing mountings, together with two QF 4.7-inch guns. [5] In 1894, a former practice battery sited near the tip of the headland and dating from 1871 was rebuilt to mount four RML 64-pounder guns on traversing carriages for close defence. Two QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns were added in 1898. [5]
By the turn of the 20th century, concern had shifted from France to Germany, and the battery's armament was the subject of several upgrades. In 1898, a depression range finder and telephone system were installed. In 1901, a further BL 6-inch gun was added to the north of the battery. [1] In 1903, the original guns were replaced with three of the latest BL 6-inch Mk VII guns, but retaining the two old 4.7-inch guns. [5] During the First World War, Harwich was an important destroyer base; improvements to the battery included two QF 1-pounder pom-pom anti-aircraft guns. [1]
The fort remained operational in the inter-war period, although the 4.7-inch guns were finally retired. Plans to modernise the battery had not been started before the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1940, a new emplacement, known as "Cornwallis Battery" was constructed for two rapid-firing QF 6-pounder 10 cwt guns on a twin-barrelled mounting, intended to counter fast attack craft, which also included a new magazine, shelters and a prominent three-storey battery observation post (BOP). The 6-inch guns were partially enclosed by concrete casemates to protect the crews from air attack. In April 1941, a hexagonal tower was built 100 yards north of Beacon Hill. This housed a Type 287 Radio Direction Finding (RDF) array, used to monitor the observation mine field installed across the harbour entrance. It remained in use until December 1943. The tower still retains its original array with replacement 'pig trough' reflectors. Ground defences were improved by the addition of pillboxes, trenches and searchlight emplacements. Overlooking the breakwater, a concrete blockhouse housed an Extended Defence Officer (EXDO) post, from where naval officers could electrically detonate sea mines in the estuary. [1]
The fort was finally decommissioned in 1956 on the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom.
In early 2018, part of Beacon Hill Battery was bought by Paul Valentine and Barry Sharp as part of a restoration project.
Landguard Fort is a fort at the mouth of the River Orwell outside Felixstowe, Suffolk, designed to guard the mouth of the river. It is now managed by the charity English Heritage and is open to the public.
Garrison Point Fort is a former artillery fort situated at the end of the Garrison Point peninsula at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Built in the 1860s in response to concerns about a possible French invasion, it was the last in a series of artillery batteries that had existed on the site since the mid-16th century. The fort's position enabled it to guard the strategic point where the River Medway meets the Thames. It is a rare example of a two-tiered casemated fort – one of only two of that era in the country – with a design that is otherwise similar to that of several of the other forts along the lower Thames. It remained operational until 1956 and is now used by the Sheerness Docks as a port installation.
New Tavern Fort is an historic artillery fort in Gravesend, Kent. Dating mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, it is an unusually well-preserved example of an 18th-century fortification and remained in use for defensive purposes until the Second World War. It was built during the American War of Independence to guard the Thames against French and Spanish raiders operating in support of the newly formed United States of America. It was redesigned and rebuilt in the mid-19th century to defend against a new generation of iron-clad French warships.
Coalhouse Fort is an artillery fort in the eastern English county of Essex. It was built in the 1860s to guard the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury which was vulnerable to raiders and invaders. It was the last in a series of fortifications dating back to the 15th century and was the direct successor to a smaller mid-19th century fort built on the same site. Constructed during a period of tension with France, its location on marshy ground caused problems from the start and led to a lengthy construction process. The fort was equipped with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns and the most modern defensive facilities of the time, including shell-proof casemates protected by granite facing and cast-iron shields. Its lengthy construction and the rapid pace of artillery development at the time meant that it was practically obsolete for its original purpose within a few years of its completion.
Harwich Redoubt is a circular fort built in 1808 to defend the port of Harwich, Essex from Napoleonic invasion. The Harwich Society opens it to the public.
Fort Dunree is a coastal defence fortification located on the west side of the Inishowen peninsula, County Donegal, Ireland.
Fort Gilkicker is a historic Palmerston fort built at the eastern end of Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hampshire England to dominate the key anchorage of Spithead. It was erected between 1863 and 1871 as a semi-circular arc with 22 casemates, to be armed with five twelve-inch guns, seventeen ten-inch guns and five nine-inch guns. The actual installed armament rather differed from this. In 1902 the RML guns were replaced by two 9.2-inch and two six-inch BL guns, and before the First World War the walls were further strengthened with substantial earthwork embankments. The fort was disarmed in 1956 and used for storage until 1999. On 28th July 2022, the fort was sold at auction for just under £1.4M and planning has been granted for 26 homes. Since then a massive restoration project has been underway.
York Redoubt is a redoubt situated on a bluff overlooking the entrance to Halifax Harbour at Ferguson's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada, originally constructed in 1793. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1962.
Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is a 19th-century coastal artillery fort on the Colwood side of Esquimalt Harbour,. The site is adjacent to Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, the first lighthouse on the west coast of Canada. Both the fort and lighthouse are managed and presented to the public by Parks Canada.
The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy travelling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, and also served as one of the main coast defence guns throughout the British Empire until the 1950s.
The Henry Head Battery is an artillery battery located on the northern side of the entrance to Botany Bay at Henry Head, La Perouse, New South Wales, Australia.
Fort Nepean is a former defensive facility occupying part of Point Nepean, Victoria, Australia. It was part of a network of fortifications, commanded from Fort Queenscliff, protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip. It is now part of Point Nepean National Park and a local tourist attraction.
Culver Battery is a former coastal artillery battery on Culver Down, on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, England. The fortification is one of several Palmerston Forts built on the island following concerns about the size and strength of the French Navy in the late 19th century. It was operational during the First and Second World Wars. The battery was closed in 1956.
Fort Ballance is a former coastal artillery battery on Point Gordon on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula.
Alexandra Battery is a coastal artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was constructed at the neck of the South Mole to enfilade the coastal fortifications of Gibraltar. The battery stood on the site of several previous fortifications; it was built over the New Mole Battery, which was itself constructed on the site of an old Spanish fort in front of the Tuerto Tower.
Fort Davis, is a coastal defence fortification close to Whitegate, County Cork, Ireland. Together with similar structures at Fort Mitchel, Fort Camden (Crosshaven), and Templebreedy Battery, the fort was built to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour. Though used as a fortification from the early 17th century, the current structures of the 74-acre site date primarily from the 1860s. Originally named Fort Carlisle and operated by the British Armed Forces, the fort was handed-over to the Irish Defence Forces in 1938, and renamed Fort Davis. The facility is owned by the Department of Defence, and is used as a military training site with no public access.
Fort Templebreedy, also known as Templebreedy Battery, was a coastal defence fortification close to Crosshaven, in County Cork, Ireland. Supplementing a number of earlier structures at Fort Camden and Fort Davis, the site was developed between 1904 and 1909 to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour. Used as a coastal artillery position until the 1940s, and as a military training camp until the late 20th century, many of the structures of the 37-acre site were dismantled over time, and part of the complex used as a pitch and putt course. In 2009, Cork County Council added the site to a proposed list of protected structures – though as of 2020 it remains in the ownership of the Department of Defence.
West Blockhouse Fort is a mid-19th century coastal artillery fort at West Blockhouse Point, a rocky headland near Dale, Pembrokeshire, to the west of Milford Haven in Wales.
The Downing Point Battery was a World War I coastal gun battery defending the Firth of Forth. The battery was constructed in 1914 at Downing Point, then part of the Earl of Moray's Donibristle Estate. The site is now situated within the new town of Dalgety Bay in Fife.
The 1st Suffolk & Harwich Volunteer Artillery, later the Essex & Suffolk Royal Garrison Artillery was an auxiliary coastal artillery unit of the British Army first raised in 1899. It defended the ports and naval bases around the estuaries of the Rivers Orwell and Stour. Although the unit saw no active service, it supplied trained gunners to siege batteries engaged on the Western Front during World War I. It was greatly expanded in World War II to defend the invasion-threatened East Anglian Coast from Harwich to Great Yarmouth. Postwar it continued in the coast and air defence roles until it disappeared in a series of amalgamations from the 1950s.