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Summary

A small battery triangular in plan consisting of a platform behind stone walls, built in the second half of the C18.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 15434: POST-MEDIEVAL BREASTWORK, CURTAIN WALL AND ASSOCIATED DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE GARRISON, ST MARY'S
• Listed Building (I) 62521: OUTER WALLS AND GATEWAY

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SV 91 SW 312
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1445480
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SV91SW 312
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 7906.17
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SV91SW 31

Monument Type(s):

• COASTAL BATTERY (18th Century - 1750 AD? to 1800 AD)

Full description

Prior to the 1994 revision of the Garrison defences SMR this site was recorded under PRN 7423.23 (b9).
A small battery triangular in plan consisting of a platform behind stone walls, associated with the section of curtain wall of possibly Elizabethan origin south of the Garrison neck (7906.15), was built in the second half of the C18 to replace the C17 battery immediately east destroyed by coastal erosion (7904.002). The battery next north is named Upper Broom (7906.16). The site is Scheduled (h1). The Lower Broom battery named on the 1742 plan is the C17 platform with east face and angled NE and SE sides (b1). In 1750 the latter is marked 'washed down by the sea' (b2). The present Lower Broom battery may have been replaced soon after this; it is not mentioned in Troutbeck's 1796 survey (b3) but this may indicate no guns were mounted here (b9). It is recorded on the 1834 plan (b4) and 1888 and 1907 OS maps (b5, b6); east facing, maintaining the line of the curtain to the north, and the south side formed by a dogleg where the curtain to the south takes a line slightly inland. The Adams note that there are now trees on the platform (b7). Thomas suggests that the name Broom refers to Broom Hill, the east facing slope of the Hugh behind; 'lower' perhaps indicating relative distance from the Garrison entrance (b8). The site was visited in 1988 (h8) and surveyed 1991 (h5). In 1990 the quality of the walling with very large stones and ashlar parapet was found to be distinct to that of the curtain, which make it at straight joints at either side (h4). The southern junction with the curtain is not at the SW corner of the battery but a little east of here along its south wall (h4) reflecting a kink west where the possibly Elizabethan curtain joined to the north (7906.18) before the rebuilding of this battery (b9), visible on mid-C18 plans (b1, b2). One drainage hole was also recorded, at the north end of the battery (h4). The monument is included in the Schedule.
(b8) - Thomas, AC, 1989, Pers Comm, ,
(b9) - Parkes, C, 1994, Pers Comm, ,

The battery was described in 1995 (8): As a result of the major refurbishment of the Garrison walls, sometime after the 1746 mapping, the present wall was constructed by extending the linking wall across the rear of the platform. The extension of the 3.5m wide access track behind the battery was completed by 1750. The rebuild following the 18th century coastal erosion is visible as a portion of curtain wall fabric of relatively large blocks, varying in size c 0.2m to 0.5m high, extending south across the former battery's base, extending the alignment of the curtain wall to the north, built of regular small-block ashlar. At the southern end of the former battery, the rebuilt platform wall turns a right angle to extend west, inland for about 11.5m to meet the alignment of the 1742 ¿ 50 curtain wall to the south and then angles SSW for 2m before joining the smaller block fabric of that curtain wall. At each end, the rebuilt wall meets the adjoining curtain wall fabric at vertical joints. The rebuilt platform wall is c 1.3m wide, outward chamfered, turf-capped. The inner face is 0.8m high on the east side, rising along the south side to 1.5m high at its SW corner. The rebuilt wall is pierced by a single drainage hole towards its northern end. The triangular interior has recently planted trees.

The battery was described in 2005 (9): The wall which has clearly been rebuilt is 1.6m wide at its top and is built of coursed rubble with a sloping top which is graded to accommodate the natural fall in the slope. The date when the last rebuild occurred has not yet been identified but it could have been as late as the later 19th or the middle of the 20th century. There is now no trace of embrasures in the wall or evidence of a battery here.Trees that are about 15 years old occupy the internal area. The angle in the wall would allow for flanking fire across the front face of the southern curtain wall. The sea cliff profile reveals that the wall rests on an 0.4m layer of peat over an approximately 1.3m high layer of friable mid- brown soil with a matrix of small stones and boulders on granite bedrock. The adjacent cliff edge is too unstable to investigate closely but small piles of stone are exposed. They may however be associated with the former garden plots in front of the 18th century masonry wall which were noted in 1834 as being 'occupied by individuals of the town'.

--------------------------------
Site history:
1: 1958. SAUNDERS, A/IAM
2: 1978. NJA/OS
3: 1988. WATERS, A/CAU
4: 1990. JOHNSON, N/CAU
5: 1991. UNKNOWN/EH
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National Monument Record, The Garrison Survey, St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly (Survey). SCO29940.

<1> UNKNOWN, 1742, A PLAN OF HUGH FORT ALIAS THE STAR CASTLE (Unedited Source). SCO5544.

<2> Tovey, A, 1750, A Plan of the Peninsula and Fortifications on St Mary's (Bibliographic reference). SCO4950.

<3> Troutbeck, J, 1796, Survey of the Ancient and Present State of the Scilly Islands (Bibliographic reference). SCO4965.

<4> Birch, JF, 1974, Plan of the Garrison on the Island of Saint Mary, Scilly (Bibliographic reference). SCO2851.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4050.

<6> Adams, F & P, 1984, Star Castle and its Garrison, 103 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2717.

<7> ADAMS, F & P, 1984, THE NAMES OF THE BATTERIES ON THE GARRISON, ST MARY'S, ISLES IF SCILLY (Unedited Source). SCO8723.

<8> Field Investigator's Comments, MPPA/Hooley, D. 1995. (Survey). SCO29739.

<9> Field Investigator's Comments, EH/Fletcher, M. 2005. (Survey). SCO29739.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO3128 - Garrison Walls, Isles of Scilly, conservation plan
• ECO6309 - The Garrison, St. Mary's: Survey

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