Cold War Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery lying on land to east of Harty Ferry Road

Summary

A Cold War Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, built between 1946 and 1953, probably as part of the Igloo 1 defence programme.

Reasons for Designation

The Cold War Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery to the East of Harty Ferry Road is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Rarity: it is one of a small number of complete or near complete heavy anti-aircraft batteries built in the early stages of the Cold War as part of the Igloo national defence programme;
* Survival: all the principal elements that illustrate the purpose and intended function of the site survive well, with evidence of original fittings in the gun emplacements and original earth banks surrounding them;
* Potential: the remains enhance our detailed understanding of the construction, function and use of this military site type in Britain as well as serving as a tangible symbol of the threat of mutually assured destruction;
* Historic interest: it is an important and evocative witness to national defence policy in the early stages of the Cold War.

History

In the period immediately following the end of the Second World War, Heavy Anti-aircraft (HAA) Batteries, grouped around the major conurbations and armament-producing areas, formed an integral part of the United Kingdom’s anti-aircraft defences. Other aspects of the defence system included radar stations, the Royal Observer Corps, interceptor aircraft, Anti-aircraft Operations Rooms and Light Anti-aircraft Batteries. There are two principal types of post-war HAA batteries: those for the smaller calibre 3.7-inch guns, and those for the heavy 5.25-inch guns. The smaller calibre sites usually include four emplacements arranged in a shallow arc with the guns mounted in each on central holdfasts. The 5.25-inch emplacements are far more elaborate, with a deep pit beneath each gun housing the powerful hydraulic systems needed to absorb the recoil from the shells and the automated loading systems. Associated with both types of battery are gun stores, standby generator buildings, command posts, structures or hard standings for gun-laying radar and predictors, domestic accommodation and other minor features. Some are associated with contemporary Anti-aircraft Operations Rooms.

During the Second World War nearly 1,000 anti-aircraft gun sites were built, 192 of which were selected for retention after the war as the ‘Nucleus Force’. By 1950 the scheme has been reorganised to cover three key areas: Forth/Clyde, Mersey/Midlands and London/South East – this scheme was known as ‘Igloo’ and comprised 78 sites, 54 of which had guns permanently mounted. However, in 1951, in response to fears about the Soviet Union’s aggressive intentions, heightened by the outbreak of the Korean War, 683 HAA batteries were listed in a mobilisation plan. These represented a mixture of retained or reoccupied wartime sites, often with new additions, and sites built in greenfield locations.

The Cold War Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery which lies to the east of Harty Ferry Road is thought to be an Igloo 1 site, built after the Second World War but before the demise of anti-aircraft artillery as a defence system in 1956. It was designed to house four 3.7-inch guns, but it is thought never to have been armed. The gun emplacements, surrounding ditch and associated buildings are all visible on an historic aerial photograph dated February 1953, but are not visible on 1946 aerial photography. The 1969 Ordnance Survey map depicts all the same structures and labels them as a ‘Gun Site (Disused)’. In 1983 the site was divided in two with the three emplacements to the east purchased by new owners, and by 1990 the surrounding ditch had been reconfigured to enclose only these emplacements.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the Cold War Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery comprises four gun emplacements arranged equidistantly in a shallow arc, as well as an associated Nissen hut, a standby generator building and a command post. The gun emplacements are connected by a section of concrete access track, and the three emplacements to the east are enclosed by a ditch and earth bank. The ditch is approximately 3.5m wide and 1.2m deep, and the bank is 9.5m wide and 1.5m high. On the north side of the track, adjacent to the site entrance from Harty Ferry Road, there are two areas of concrete standing, which may have been intended for mobile gun-laying radar. The structures stand to the east of Harty Ferry Road, in a field that slopes gently downwards towards the north.

DESCRIPTION: the four gun emplacements survive largely intact. Each is octagonal on plan, with walls of reinforced concrete, and measure approximately 15m across. Each emplacement has a generator room projecting from one side and a smaller crew room on the opposite side of the entrance. Four of the internal walls have covered ammunition lockers, but on the easternmost emplacement these have been demolished. Timber racking survives in some of the ammunition lockers. In the centre of the concrete floor of each emplacement spigot acceptance rings remain visible indicating the presence of central holdfasts prepared for the guns.

The standby generator building is situated on the north side of the access road, approximately 65m to the north of the westernmost gun emplacement. This single-storey, rectangular building of reinforced concrete measures approximately 7.7m by 7.6m. It previously would have contained the plant which provided electricity to the guns and operational systems, making the site independent of the national power supply. The single room, entered through a double door in the east elevation, is ventilated on three walls by a series of rectangular openings just below the ceiling. The fourth, north wall had three larger openings that have since been bricked up. The door itself has been removed but the steel frame survives, with a concrete drip mould above. 23m to the west of the generator building is a Nissen hut, measuring approximately 12m by 4.6m.

A second reinforced concrete building, the command post, is situated at the northern side of the field, approximately 160m to the north of the westernmost gun emplacement. This building is also single-storey and rectangular on plan, measuring approximately 13.5m by 6.5m. It has a steel-framed doorway at each end, minus the doors, and a single window opening to the south elevation which retains its steel shutters. There are concrete drip moulds above the door and window openings. A small projecting block to the north elevation probably housed a pair of toilets originally. The interior has a concrete partition wall dividing the space into two rooms, one of which would have housed the control room for the coordination of the guns.

All fences and fenceposts within the scheduled area are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

Sources

Books and journals
Cocroft, W D, Thomas, RJC, Barnwell, PS, Cold War, Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989, (2003), 152-3
Catford, N, Cold War Bunkers, (2010), 104-5
Smith, V, From Tudor Rose to Mushroom Cloud: the gazetteer of defence heritage sites in the Kentish part of the Thames Gateway, (1995), 25

Websites
Warden report for Capel Farm Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery (Monument 1442260), accessed 23 September 2022 from https://warden.historicengland.org.uk/report/405f17f1-320b-4208-a1fd-8f2f6eab17e4

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