Summary
Coastal battery built to defend the naval dockyard at Plymouth; proposed 1885, constructed 1888-1890, armed 1893, outer defences constructed 1894; disarmed 1897 and 1912. A radar station was built in around 1942. Released by the Ministry of Defence in 1951; it has been a holiday park since 1955.
Reasons for Designation
Whitsand Bay Battery, constructed between 1888 and 1894, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period: Whitsand Bay Battery is a representative example of a battery constructed later in the C19 in response to advances in shipping and weaponry;
Survival: despite some losses and neglect, a high percentage of physical features characteristic of this type of battery survive, illustrating and providing information about the site's historic form and function;
* Rarity: coastal batteries which survive well are considered to be of national importance;
* Potential: the site has the potential to reveal more about its defensive capabilities and processes which will contribute to a point-in-time understanding of artillery technology;
* Vulnerability: the site has already been subject to intervention and disturbance and scheduling will help draw attention to its interest and control its future management;
* Group value: with the contemporaneous Whitsand Bay practice Battery, which was constructed between 1895 and 1897, and is a scheduled monument.
History
Prompted by an uncertain relationship with Napoleon III’s France during the 1850s, the Royal Commission on the Defences of the United Kingdom was established by Lord Palmerston in 1860. The Royal Commission’s report resulted in a comprehensive scheme of construction of new defences and fortifications to safeguard the Royal Naval Dockyards. Around 70 forts and batteries were constructed up to 1872, including those to defend the port of Plymouth, and represent the largest maritime defence programme since the initiative of Henry VIII in 1539-1540. They are the most visible of Britain’s coastal defence systems and are known colloquially as Palmerston’s follies. The forts had common design characteristics, armament and defensive provisions. The term battery refers to any place where artillery is positioned to allow guns to cover a particular area such as a line of communication or the approaches to a defended location. Although often contained within artillery forts designed to withstand sieges, typically including resident garrisons, many batteries were lightly defended and only manned at fighting strength in times of emergency. In the late C19, advances in shipping and the range of weapons motivated a further programme of building to achieve continued defence against long-range bombardment.
Above Whitsand Bay and about four miles to the south-west of Plymouth, lies Whitsand Bay Battery, which was built in the late C19 as Raleigh Battery. The battery was constructed to defend against warships anchoring in the bay and attacking the naval dockyard at Devonport in Plymouth with high-angle fire. The battery was located between the Royal Commission forts at Tregantle to the west (1858-1859) and Polhawn to the east (1861-1863), and all three were linked by a military road. It was also supported by howitzers at Tregantle Down and Church batteries to the east. A practice battery was constructed to the south of Whitsand Bay Battery in 1895.
Whitsand Bay Battery was proposed in 1885 as a battery of three 12.5-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns on emplacements behind a rampart facing south-west over Whitsand Bay, located within an area of War Department land covering about 22 acres. Begun after summer 1888, initial construction was probably complete by 1890. Plans of the battery are signed by Colonel F Mascall, Commissioning Royal Engineer, Plymouth Sub-District, and it was built by WT Jinkin of Plymouth. By 1893 the three rifled muzzle-loading guns with Moncrieff rear traversing slide mountings had been installed on emplacements to the middle and east of the battery, along with two six-inch rifled breech-loading guns on Armstrong-Elswick pattern hydraulic disappearing mountings on emplacements to the west. The shells from the guns had a range of three and five miles respectively. The emplacements were accompanied by underground ammunition magazines and stores; each magazine had a four-shelf manually-operated chain-driven lift for hauling bags of gunpowder (a ‘cartridge’) and cordite up to the guns. The shells for the 12.5-inch guns were carried on barrows along tracks from stores at ground level to the guns. The south-east and north-west flanks had a flight of steps leading up to a Depression Range Finder (DRF) pedestal, next to which a tunnel led through to the relevant caponier.
A ditch 18ft deep and 20ft wide was constructed around the battery in 1894. It was revetted on the inside with a thick vertical concrete wall, with three octagonal concrete caponiers at the west, south and north-east angles of the battery, protruding into and level with the top of the ditch; these were armed with Maxim machine guns and accessed through tunnels from the interior of the battery. The surrounding fields were landscaped to form a glacis on the landward sides, and particularly to the north to provide protection from shell-fire and possible land attack. The battery also contained a caretaker’s quarters, and a casemated red-brick barrack block. At the entrance to the site, on the east side, a rolling-bridge was constructed over the ditch; this was flanked on the seaward side by an embankment.
In 1897 the 6-inch guns were removed, followed by the rifled muzzle-loading guns in 1912. Whitsand Bay Battery was not armed during either World War, although a radar station and some temporary buildings were constructed in the middle years of the Second World War. The radar station was a combined transmitter and receiver block for an army Chain Home Low or Coastal Defence low-level radar that could detect low-flying aircraft and surface shipping. When it was taken into the Royal Air Force’s chain of radars sometime after July 1942, it was given the number K167 and radar renamed as Type 33.
The site was released by the Ministry of Defence in 1951 and became a holiday park in 1955. Aerial photographs from around the late-1950s and 1970s show the changes and modifications made to the site. The earlier photograph shows static and touring caravans to the south of the central and northern ramparts; facilities appear to have been provided in wooden huts. The photograph clearly shows the three caponiers, the rolling bridge to the east, and the extent and depth of the outer ditch. The Second World War radar station and the roof of the caretaker’s house can also be seen. The later aerial photograph demonstrates the extent of changes at the site, particularly the infilling of the outer ditch and the construction of permanent buildings within the fort, and further pitches for static caravans. The rolling bridge and southern caponier had also been removed by this point, and land to the north (within the glacis) occupied by touring caravans. However, the emplacements and general form of the battery is recognisable in both photographs.
The facilities were significantly remodelled in 2004: the static caravans within the glacis were removed and replaced by touring and camping pitches, and new chalets constructed within the glacis. The historic field of fire, to the south, was left unobscured.
Due to its sensitive military nature, the battery was not depicted on published versions of contemporary Ordnance Survey maps, although it had been surveyed for War Office editions. Digital copies of signed C19 record plans of the battery and its emplacements and stores, the casemates, and the rolling bridge have been located (see Sources); although the inscriptions are unclear, they are helpful in confirming the historic layout of the site, and further interrogation of the original plans will provide further evidence of the capacity and capabilities of the battery. Whitsand Bay Battery is referenced in published sources, including Pye and Woodward, and it is recorded on the county Historic Environment Record (see Sources). It was also plotted by the National Mapping Programme in the 1990s.
Details
Coastal battery to defend the naval dockyard at Plymouth; proposed 1885, constructed 1888-1890, armed 1893, outer defences constructed 1894; disarmed 1897 and 1912. A radar station was built in around 1942. Released by the Ministry of Defence in 1951; it has been a holiday park since 1955.
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: situated on a ridge above Tregonhawke Cliff and almost in the centre of Whitsand Bay, are the above and below-ground remains of a late-C19 coastal defence battery, including an earthen outer rampart, counterscarp banks, and a central rampart (or traverse). The battery comprises a pentagonal enclosure with a largely-infilled rock-cut ditch, two surviving caponiers, five symmetrically-placed concrete gun emplacements for two different artillery types within the outer rampart, underground magazines and stores beneath the outer rampart, tunnels to cartridge stores and guard chambers, and Depression Range Finder (DRF) pedestals. The entrance is to the north-east from Donkey Lane.
DESCRIPTION: Whitsand Bay Battery is situated facing south over Whitsand Bay. It is located on a hilltop to the north of a former military road which runs along the coast, surrounded by a 10m slope containing the remains of the glacis. The battery is largely demarcated by the remains of an earthen counterscarp bank and largely-infilled rock-cut ditch (now a metalled track for access around the perimeter of the holiday park) with some surviving concrete revetment walls. The north-east section of the ditch is fully infilled to counterscarp level. The outer rampart is well-defined, but it and the outer counterscarp banks and central rampart have all been subject to some disturbance and cutting-back. The battery covers an area of approximately 7 acres (3 hectares); this does not include the full extent of the historic glacis.
The following description does not attempt to describe every feature present or in detail, but rather characterises the remains in each area based on the physical accessible evidence and the sources available.
The battery is accessed from the east where a metalled track leads uphill from Donkey Lane and across the infilled ditch at the former position of the rolling bridge. The track follows its historic course into battery, and also continues along the line of the infilled ditch to the south and then turns to run east to west along the southern perimeter. The location of the southern caponier at SX4092451375 is marked by a semi-circular open area, now grassed. The outer earthen counterscarp bank on top of a dry-stone wall is up to about 2m-high above the modern track surface; its profile is largely eroded on its outer face and has a path running along the top. The south side of the outer rampart has been cut back to create hardstanding adjoining the track. The western caponier is located at SX4073651535 within a grassed area and comprises a low octagonal concrete platform about 0.5m high by 7.5m in diameter. The counterscarp bank and outer rampart returns towards the north-east; the latter appears to retain its historic line, although it has been cut-into in places revealing its construction of earth and shale. A length of inner concrete revetment wall about 2m high survives at the north end of the rampart. At the northern point a track to the west leads down to the practice battery (a scheduled monument), and the rampart turns to the east. Again, the track continues along the line of the infilled ditch, with the counterscarp bank on the north side cut away to create a wider area for the modern track and parking. The concrete revetment to the outer rampart is intact as far as the north-east caponier, at SX4093151522, which is about 1.5m high by 7.5m in diameter. The outer rampart and its revetment wall then turn south-east back towards the entrance to the site.
From the entrance, a metalled track follows its historic course roughly westwards into the interior of the battery; to the right (north) of the track are late-C20 buildings including a reception block, swimming pool, and restaurant with a raised outdoor seating area, and to the left is a single-storey office building, the historic former caretaker’s residence (significantly altered) and casemate barracks (now a bar and restaurant) with a C20 extension (separately listed at Grade II). The track then swings to the north to an area known as ‘The Meadows’, defined to the north and south by the outer and central ramparts respectively; this was historically an open area although its use is unknown. To the left of the entrance to ‘The Meadows’ are late-C20 chalets on a raised platform, but the area remains open and comprises late-C20 hard-standing areas, some of which have cut into both ramparts.
The main track turns to the south past the entrance to ‘The Meadows’ to five concrete gun-emplacements, arranged symmetrically and facing south-west behind and within the outer rampart. Further late-C20 hardstanding areas are located against the central rampart, with the track running between them and the emplacements. The emplacements were historically known north-west to south-east as guns number I to V (one to five); the emplacements are of mass-concrete construction and their surviving components are cast iron set on concrete aprons. The emplacements for guns I and II (historically six-inch breech-loading guns on Elswick pattern hydraulic disappearing mountings) are five-sided with an arched tunnel entrance to the right at gun I position, an archway to expense lockers to the left at both positions, and a store to the right at gun II. The emplacement wall has various recesses for storage and shelter, and fixed iron rings on the inner face of the seaward side. The overhanging top of the emplacement is chamfered. The circular gun position in each emplacement comprises an inner racer rail approximately 3m in diameter and an outer circle of bolts set into the concrete apron. The emplacements to guns III to V (historically 12.5-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns) are semi-circular in plan with expense lockers and stores to the left and right (and with access to an ammunition lift and magazines on the right at gun positions IV and V, and possibly I and II), a tunnel entrance to the left at gun V position, various recesses, and fixed iron rings on the seaward side, as above. The mountings for guns III and IV are positioned on a stepped circular plinth; the mountings for gun III have been removed and the emplacement has been infilled to about two-thirds its depth, but the mountings for gun IV comprise an outer racer rail with an inner half-circle of cogged teeth, with a further flat rail around three-quarters of the plinth at ground level. The plinth and mountings for gun V have also been partially removed, although a central pivot and the outer plate remain.
In between each of the gun emplacements are concrete steps to underground facilities to support the guns, from north-west to south-east: two magazines with passages leading to ammunition lifts, (inaccessible); two artillery stores (inaccessible; possibly later housed a generator associated with the radar station); two magazines with cartridge stores and passages leading to ammunition lifts; and a store with two magazines and a lift. The latter is constructed of red brick, set back and down from the access track, with an open-well in front of three arches into the storeroom (right) and magazines and lift (left) with shell stores at ground-floor level above. The magazines are also set down and back from the track. They comprise a network of brick-built north-south and east-west passages with open-sided lantern recesses (originally glazed). No IV magazine is accessible: on its south side are rooms for filling cartridges with gunpowder, with hatches at ground level for issuing them into the passage. There are also shifting rooms (for soldiers to dress in felt shoes and suits and remove all metal objects from themselves) and other stores. Some historic hand-painted wall signs survive in the passages and to the lantern recesses and air inlets. Each of the five magazines had a lift: that in the number III and IV basement magazines are known to survive, and number IV has been restored; it is a four-shelf manually-operated chain-drive devices, for hauling 300lb bags of gunpowder for the 12.5-inch guns, or cordite to the number IV gun emplacement.
At the north-west and south-east ends of the outer rampart, and within its earthwork, are concrete steps down to red-brick vaulted tunnels: at the entrance to each tunnel is a recess, possibly for communication equipment, and the tunnel slopes down to two cartridge stores opposite each other at the lowest point. The tunnel then slopes up to steps out into the infilled ditch and the caponier. The tunnels also retain iron wall hooks for lamps, and standard cast-iron railings at the entrances. At the north-west end, and to the north of the tunnel entrance, concrete steps lead up to the top of the rampart where there is a concrete pedestal for a Depression Range Finder (DRF) with a concrete protective wall to its west. The south-east DRF does not appear to survive. Standard military issue wrought-iron railings survive at some of the entrances and walkways associated with the underground facilities, and to the east and west tunnels.
On the outer rampart at SX4081251479 is a former Second World War radar station of standard design, now converted into a holiday chalet. It has been heavily altered and extended on its west side, however the mounts for the radar array on the flat roof survive. A small roofless building of concrete-block construction to its north may be of the same period.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the battery is defined by the outer counterscarp bank to the south-west, and the outer line of the infilled ditch to the north-west, north and north-east.
EXCLUSIONS: all modern lodges, and the buildings containing the swimming pool, changing rooms, and laundry; the restaurant building including its raised wooden outdoor-seating area and decommissioned K6 telephone box; the former C19 caretaker’s quarters, now holiday accommodation; a single-storey former office building; and the reception building are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included. The casemate barracks (now a bar and restaurant and separately listed at Grade II) and its C20 extension and outdoor surfaces to the north are also excluded, but the ground beneath them is included. A timber gazebo on the outer rampart near number IV gun; all late-C20 road, track and footway surfaces (tarmac, paviours, gravel) and kerbs; street furniture, signs, telegraph poles; and late-C20 timber fences and gates are excluded, but the ground beneath them is included. Although it has some historic interest, the Second World War radar station is also excluded, but the ground beneath it is included.
