Crosby Battery | |
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Crosby, Merseyside England | |
Coordinates | 53°30′35″N3°03′43″W / 53.5098°N 3.06187°W |
Site information | |
Condition | Partially demolished |
Site history | |
Built | 1906-7 |
Materials | Concrete |
Crosby Battery, also known as Crosby Point Battery and Fort Crosby, was an artillery battery situated between Crosby and Hightown in Lancashire, United Kingdom. The battery was used for port defence and anti-aircraft defence during WWII. [1] [2] Until 1928 Crosby Battery worked in conjunction with the nearby Seaforth Battery.
Crosby Battery was built on the sand dunes north of Crosby between March 1906 and October 1907. [3] The structure came with three gun emplacements, which were 40 yards (37 m) apart, with ammunition kept underneath the positions. The original complement of guns were two 6 inches (150 mm) breech-loading Mark VII guns, [4] [5] which were the same as those installed at nearby Fort Perch Rock, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Mersey. Behind the positions were two barracks and soldiers' quarters. Around the battery was an observation post, a signal station, an officers' hut, caretaker's accommodation, a bath house, a workshop. An engine room, with coastal spotlights, was built later. The battery was given the designation S0011771.[ citation needed ]
The battery was the headquarters for the Lancashire and Cheshire Heavy Brigade, Royal Artillery (TF). [4] On the outbreak of the First World War Fort Crosby, Seaforth Battery and Fort Perch Rock were responsible for the defence of the River Mersey. By the Second World War the defences of the Mersey comprised two 6-inch guns at Crosby Battery and two 6-inch guns at Fort Perch Rock. Fort Crosby received a naval 4-inch Breech loading (BL) gun, which was mounted on the right flank of the battery.
After the Second World War, the Territorial Army used the area, until 1954. The base was subsequently closed in 1957 on the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom announced in 1956. [6]
After permission was given for a housing development at Hightown, the Ministry of Defence sold the battery, in 1963, including 417 acres (169 hectares) of foreshore. [7] Many of the buildings were demolished, following this, in 1967. [7] However, the site of the battery still exists, adjacent to the West Lancashire Golf Course. As of 2020, the site still consists of the stone gun emplacements, but the area where the barracks and operational buildings has now been cleared. This area is noticeable from the surrounding areas however, as a flat clearing amongst the dunes. As of 2020, no plaques, plinths or signage exist to commemorate the Fort. [7]
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of West Lancashire Rural District. It consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea which extends from Southport in the north to Bootle in the south, and an inland part to Maghull in the south-east, bounded by the city of Liverpool to the south, the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.
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Fort Perch Rock is a former defence installation situated at the mouth of Liverpool Bay in New Brighton. Built in the 1820s to defend the Port of Liverpool, it is now a tourist attraction and museum. It has been used as a venue for musical concerts and has been listed as a Grade II* Listed Building. The Fort's cafe "The Mess" is open daily from 9am. A World War 2 escape room concept "Escape The Fort" runs within the fort.
Hightown is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, located midway between the city of Liverpool and the coastal resort of Southport. It is 8 miles north of Liverpool city centre and is located on the coast near the boundary of the Mersey Estuary and Liverpool Bay. The River Alt joins the sea at this point and forms an estuary. There is a pumping station on the River Alt at Altmouth, built 1972, as part of a programme to alleviate flooding in the area. This is on the Altcar Rifle Range, a Territorial Army base originally established in 1860 by Lt. Col. Gladstone.
Seaforth Battery, Seaforth, Merseyside, England was built to protect shipping on the River Mersey. Constructed as part of the defences of the Mersey Docks, the battery was designed to engage ships using the Rock Channel head on as well as the other shipping channels. The battery supported Fort Perch Rock, which was located opposite on the Wirral bank of the river. It was completed at the end of 1879 at a cost of £19,109.
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Crosby Beach is part of the Merseyside coastline north of Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, England, stretching about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) North-West from the Seaforth Dock in the Port of Liverpool, through Waterloo, where it separates the sea from the Marina. The beach was awarded Keep Britain Tidy's Quality Coast Award in 2011.
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The 3-inch gun M1903 and its predecessors the M1898 and M1902 were rapid fire breech-loading artillery guns with a 360-degree traverse. In some references they are called "15-pounders" due to their projectile weight. They were originally emplaced from 1899 to 1917 and served until shortly after World War II. These 3-inch guns were placed to provide fire to protect underwater mines and nets against minesweepers, and also to protect against motor torpedo boats. In some documentation they are called "mine defense guns". The 3-inch guns were mounted on pedestal mounts that bolted into a concrete emplacement that provided cover and safety for the gun's crew.
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