For important guidance on the use of this record, please click here.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

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

Protected Status

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

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SV 91 SW 311
• National Monuments Record: SV 91 SW 313
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1445474
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1445500
• NBR Index Number: 111235
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SV91SW 30.14
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 7906.16
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SV91SW 31

Monument Type(s):

• COASTAL BATTERY (18th Century - 1701 AD to 1800 AD)

Full description

Prior to the 1994 revision of the Garrison defences SMR, this site was recorded under PRN 7423.22 (b9).
A small battery, triangular in plan, consisting of a platform behind stone walls, associated with the section of curtain wall of posssible 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 (7904.01). The battery next south is named Lower Broom (7906.17). The site is Scheduled (h1). The Upper Broom battery named on the 1742 plan is the C17 platform with east face, NE and SE sides (b1). In 1750 the latter is marked 'washed down by the sea' (b2). The present Upper Broom battery may have replaced it soon after this; it is not mentioned in Troutbeck's 1796 survey (b3), but this may indicate no guns were then mounted here (b9). It is shown on the 1834 plan (b4) and 1888 and 1907 OS maps (b5, b6), the north side formed by an eastward projection from the line of the curtain wall and the east face maintaining the line of the curtain to the south. The Adams note that the platform is now under grass (b7). Thomas suggests that the name Broom refers to Broom Hill, the east facing slope of the Hugh behind; 'upper' perhaps indicating relative proximity to the Garrison entrance (b8). The site was visited in 1988 (h3) and surveyed in 1991 (h5). In 1990 the quality of the walling with large stones and ashlar parapet was found to be distinct from that of the curtain, which meets at straight joints at either site (h4). There is one wide entrance, facing east, and possible traces of a fairly recent building on the platform. The monument is included in the Schedule.
(b9) - Parkes, C, 1994, Pers Comm, ,

The site was described in 1995 (9): The base of the early platform remains visible as a slightly raised rubble spread in the 3m wide surface between the rebuilt Platform wall and the eroding cliff edge. The spread is ill defined and visible only as a slight path beside the wall. It appears raised c 0.75m above ground level to the south, and visible over a distance of c 0.5m south from northern angle of the rebuilt wall (a rebuild he suggests dates to 1793 -1815). This spread beyond the wall appears to correspond with a distinct raised and levelled platform within the angle of the rebuilt area. This inner platform extends the full 6.5m width of the rebuilt angle plus the access track (this track was part of the major refurbishment of the defences carried out by Tovey in 1742 -50). This levelled area is visible for 4m south from the northern inner face of the angle, then it descends 0.5m to the south over a further 6.5m. It would seem that the levelled area may derive from the earlier battery. By 1834 the Upper Broom Platform had been refurbished on its present line by extending the linking curtain wall across its former rear edge reducing it the present step in the curtain wall. The precise date of this work between 1750 and 1834 is unclear. It could have existed but was not armed when Troutbeck failed to mention it in his 1796 survey. Hooley suggests that the alterations date to the period 1793 - 1815. His observations about the remains of the early battery here (detailed in the account of the early platform) suggest that part of this battery overlies and incorporates the earlier battery. He notes that the rebuild is visible as a 3m wide eastward step in the curtain wall from its alignment to the north. This rebuild is clearly visible with its fabric of large blocks, varying in size c. 0.3m ¿ 0.5m high, meeting the regular small - block ashlar of the vertical joints c 0.2m apart; at the northern end, the joint is located at the base of the step in the curtain wall. The rebuilt wall is 1.3m wide, outwardly chamfered, up to 1.2m high on its inner face and c. 2.5m high on the outer. It incorporates a broad shallow embrasure through the chamfer near the northern end.

The site was described in 2005 (10): The wall has clearly been rebuilt and a number of straight joints are visible. This position does not appear to be the site of a formal gun battery and there is no known record that guns were ever mounted here. It may overlie or incorporate the earlier structure. Alternatively, and more likely this could be a completely new structure, the angle in the wall may have accommodated the change of direction in the curtain wall. The well-constructed 18th century wall is in good condition however both the east wall and the north angle are now perilously close to the edge of the eroding cliff face - in places only 1.5m from the 4m high edge (for description of cliff profile see early battery report). The heavy storm in 2004 caused significant slumping and erosion of the friable cliff face which in places is only 1.2m from the front face of the wall.

The platform is depicted in 1741. The cliff face, which is steadily retreating at the location of this battery, is very unstable. Its profile reveals a c.2.1m thick band of mid-brown friable clay soil containing a matrix of small stones and boulders resting on granite bedrock. The surface layer comprises a c. 0.4m thick seam of peaty soil containing boulders of various sizes. The area is covered by trees and scrub. The remains of a stone structure, possibly a dry stone wall, is visible in the crumbling cliff edge, covered in dense vegetation were noted in May 2005. The origin and function of the feature could not be established. The 1742 map shows garden plots immediately to the north of the battery site; Colonel Birch's map dated 1834 indicates that the strip in front of the 18th century masonry wall was gardens 'occupied by individuals of the town'. The early OS maps depict garden plots here. It is possible therefore that any surface remains of the early battery that were not effaced by erosion may have been incorporated into the dry stone plot walls, although Hooley identifies the substantial remains of a stone platform.

--------------------------------
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
--------------------------------

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, 1880s, 1st Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4048.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4050.

<7> Adams, F & P, 1984, Star Castle and its Garrison, 103 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2717.

<8> THOMAS, AC, 1989, THE NAMES OF THE BATTERIES ON THE GARRISON, ST MARY'S, ISLES IF SCILLY (Unedited Source). SCO8924.

<9> Field Investigator's Comments, MPPA/Hooley, D. 1995 (Survey). SCO29739.

<10> Field Investigator's Comments, EH/Fletcher, M. 2005. (Survey). SCO29739.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

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

Related records

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.