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Summary

Coastal battery at Fort Bovisand with Second World War gun positions overlying earlier 19th century ones. The Second World War emplacements are visible on aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards, and the earlier ones are partially visible as curvilinear structures on top of the original casemated battery building.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*) 1379615: FORT BOVISAND
• Scheduled Monument 1002585: Staddon Heights Defences including Fort Staddon Fort, Brownhill Battery, Watch House Battery, Staddon Heights Battery, Staddon Battery and associated features and structures
• Scheduled Monument 1002584: Fort Bovisand

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 437584
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX45SE/18/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• COAST ARTILLERY BATTERY (XIX to World War II - 1860 AD to 1943 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2105, RAF/CPE/UK/2105 RP 3138-3139 28-MAY-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351151.

Curvilinear low structures are visible.

Royal Air Force, 1958, RAF 58/2546, RAF/58/2546/PSFO-P1-0376 26-AUG-1958 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351257.

Curvilinear low structures are visible, sloping downwards on the seaward side.

Guy, J., 1990, List of Coastal Batteries (Un-published). SDV15882.

Site of coastal battery at Bovisand. Armed with four12 pounder guns, six 6 pounder guns and two twin 6 pounder guns.

Pye, A., 1992, Plymouth Fortress Survey (Report - non-specific). SDV167755.

Roof level structures at Fort Bovisand include two twin 6 pounder gun positions. Both overlie circa 1901 6 pounder positions and are surrounded on three sides by contemporary single storey buildings with a concrete tower to the rear. The buildings are of brick and concrete construction. One is now used as a café. Beyond the northern emplacement is a concrete structure which may be a Second World War Royal Observer Corps post. Other details: Copy and plans in HER.

Dobinson, C. S., 1996, Coastal artillery, 1900-56 VI.1 & VI.2, 277 (Report - non-specific). SDV323777.

Site of coastal battery at Bovisand Fort, Plymouth. Armament changed over time; 1 December 1902 fourteen 10 inch Rifled Muzzle-Loaders, 1 April1914 four 12 pounder Quick Firing, 13 October 1941 three 12 pounder Quick Firing, 13 March 1942 one 12 pounder Quick Firing and by 1942 two 6 pounders. Manned during the Second World War by 566 Regiment, 137 Bty.

Pye, A. + Woodward, F., 1996, The Historic Defences of Plymouth, 210-214 (Monograph). SDV167752.

Bovisand was one of two casemated coastal batteries proposed in the Royal Commission Report of 1860 to cover the entrances to the Breakwater. It covered the east entrance while Picklecombe Fort in Cornwall covered the west. The battery was completed in 1869. The main structure survives complete, although most of the casemates and magazines have been adapted for other uses. Gun emplacements on the roof of the casemates belong to later batteries. Battery B comprised three pairs of Hotchkiss 6 pounder QF guns mounted 1885 until 1893. Battery C comprised two twin 6 pounder QF guns mounted in 1942, positioned to defend against motor torpedo boards using the east entrance to the Sound and replaced Staddon Point Battery B. The guns were removed in 1957. The emplacements survive complete with their observation towers and adjoining shelters. A glass-roofed building to the west may have been an observer post. The emplacements have now been converted to other uses.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX4850 15-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

Curvilinear low structures are visible.

Historic England, 2014, NMR 29059, NMR 29059_026 13-JUN-2014 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363262.

Curvilinear low structures are visible, sloping downwards on the seaward side.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

The original mid-19th century casemated battery building is visible on aerial photographs taken from the 1940s onwards. Later gun emplacements on the roof are also visible, including the low curvilinear structures sloping downwards on their seaward side at the eastern end. These are the surviving late-19th century emplacements that were not obscured or destroyed by subsequent Second World War emplacements (which have been separately recorded as MDV71923 and MDV71924).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4534 - Survey of Fort Bovisand
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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