More information : Lord Howe's Battery. (1)
Coastal battery. Two gun emplacements remain in some form (i.e. concrete aprons and retaining wall to rear). No CASLs or BOP. Concentric earthwork to N at the cliff edge (150m away) may represent position of CASL [information from 1992 aerial photographs].
DES=SITE OF LORD HOWARD'S BATTERY, CONSTRUCTED IN 1905, AND ARMED WITH 6" BL GUNS. SITE NOW COVERED OVER (WOODWARD).
DES=SITE OF COASTAL BATTERY AT LORD HOWARDS. ARMED WITH 2 X 6" GUNS (GUY).
VIS=ESTIMATED -/-/1989 (GUY). REMAINS (GUY).
VIS=-/3/1992 (PYE) COASTAL BATTERY COVERING THE MERCHANT SHIP ANCHORAGE IN JENNYCLIFF BAY AND THE CHANNEL THROUGH THE SOUND TO THE DOCKYARD. SAUNDERS STATES THAT IT WAS RECOMMENDED IN 1905 AND COMPLETED IN 1909. HOWEVER, WOODWARD GIVES IT AS BEING CONSTRUCTED IN 1905 WHEN TWO 6" BL GUNS WERE MOUNTED. THESE
WERE DISMOUNTED IN 1916 ALTHOUGH SAUNDERS NOTES THEIR PRESENCE IN 1927. THEY WERE MOUNTED AGAIN IN 1941 BUT FINALLY DISMOUNTED IN 1946. THE EMPLACEMENTS WERE FILLED IN WITHIN THE LAST DECADE AND THE SITE IS NOW WITHIN A PUBLIC PARK OWNED BY PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL. THE REMAINS CONSIST OF TWO PARTIALLY INFILLED CONCRETE
6" BL GUNPITS WITH A CONCRETE PARAPET AND AN EARTHEN RAMPART BEYOND SLOPING DOWN TO THE COASTAL CLIFFS. ACCESS IS PROVIDED BY A TRACK FROM THE REAR WHICH IS MOSTLY STILL EXTANT. THE LOWER AREA BEHIND THE GUN POSITIONS AND TERREPLEIN HAS BEEN INFILLED. THE MAGAZINE WAS SITED UNDERGROUND BETWEEN THE TWO GUNPITS AS AT
LENTNEY. SMALL TERRACES IN THE SLOPE BEHIND REPRESENT TWO POSSIBLE SITES OF THE BATTERY OBSERVATION POST. OTHER BUILDINGS ARE MARKED TO EACH SIDE OF THE GUN POSITIONS. THEY WERE PROBABLY SHELTERS AND AN ARTILLERY STORE, AND THERE MAY ALSO HAVE BEEN A DIRECTION RANGE FINDER AT THE SOUTHERN END. THE PRESENT CAFE
BUILDING IS RELATIVELY MODERN (PYE).
KEY=DEFENSIVESITE XX MODERN NONVISIBLE 3/12/1990 WWI WWII GUNEMPLACEMENT
MAGAZINE 13/04/1994
REF=DES=WOODWARD, F.W./PERS COMM 1990
REF=DES=GUY, J./LIST OF COASTAL BATTERIES(1990)/COPY IN SMR
REF=DES=PLYMOUTH FORTRESS SURVEY/PYE, A./(1993)/COPY AND PLAN IN SMR
REF=PRO=WO78/5061/PLAN OF LORD HOWARD'S BATTERY & RUM BAY/(1907)
REF=PRO=WO192/291/FORT RECORD BOOK/(?1940S)
REF=PRO=WO33/451/COASTAL DEFENCE SCHEME/(1911)
REF=PRO=WO33/525/PLYMOUTH FORTRESS DEFENCE SCHEME/(1911)
REF=DES=SAUNDERS, A./(C.1990)/MSS NOTES IN SMR
REF=WOODWARD,F.W./ PLYMOUTHS DEFENCES/ (1990) 36-7
On E coast of Plymouth Sound near Hooe. (2)
Lord Howard Battery located at SX 491 524. The battery opened in 1909 and mounted two 6-inch breech-loading (BL) Mk. VII guns. It was disarmed in October 1916 and closed after 1927. In 1940 the battery was recommissioned as a practise battery and mounted 6-inch quick-firing (QF) guns. It was operated by the Coast Artillery Training Centre. (3-4)
Aerial photography from 1992 shows two emplacements surviving in the form of concrete aprons and rear retaining walls. No coast artillery searchlights (CASL)or battery observation posts are visible. There is the potential for below-ground, infilled remains within an earthwork immediately south-east of the emplacements. Concentric earthwork to the north at the cliff edge may represent the position of the CASL. Minor earthworks around the site are likely to indicate rubble spreads. (5) |