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Summary

Pair of cottages built circa 1861 for the operators of the fog signal battery.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1326647: BATTERY COTTAGES
• Scheduled Monument 1016038: Fog battery at Battery Point, Lundy

Other References/Statuses

• National Trust SMR: 108427
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS14SW/25/2
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 91985
• Old SAM Ref: 27649

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• COTTAGE NON SPECIFIC (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Langham, A. F., 1968, Water Courses and Reservoirs on Lundy., 37 (Article in Serial). SDV9939.

National Trust, 1989, Lundy, Devon. Vol. One, 78-9 (Report - Survey). SDV1275.

Pair of roofless cottages, built on platform cut into base of cliff. Entered through communal porch on north side with single window on north side and a doorway in the east and west sides. Central shared brick stack. Walls survive to wall-plate height. Each cottage has two chambers, each with a fireplace and window. Floor joists and under-floor ventilation bricks still extant and internal walls still carry traces of mortar. Each cottage has an outshut with pitched roof and three small compartments, possibly an arrangement of scullery/wash-house or even bedrooms. A decorated glazed ridge-tile, marked 'Bridgwater' found between cliffs and cottages. Well situated 1.5 metres from north-west corner of the range (marked on 1967 6 inch Ordnance Survey map). Circular with granite capping, 1.10 metres diameter. Also a water tank by the back door of the east cottage. Rectangular, granite build, with a round hole for water catchment. Other details: 101,105.

National Trust, 1989, Lundy, Devon. Vol. Two, 167-8 (Report - Survey). SDV344019.

13 people living here at one time.

Department of Environment, 1991, Lundy, 10 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV7171.

Pair of attached cottages for signal gunners. Dressed granite with projecting plinth. Probably originally slated [NB: see above reference to glazed tile though]. Central axial stack. Double depth plan, each cottage with front and back room and with unheated two-cell outshut either side with small room at the back. Single storey. Central granite porch flanked by tall windows of front rooms and with small windows in outshuts set back. The sides of the outshuts have a doorway and window. All windows have granite lintels and cills, but frames missing. Interior gutted but fireplaces have granite lintels.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, Fog Battery at Battery Point, Lundy (Schedule Document). SDV7878.

The buildings are well constructed of dressed stone and include 2 cottages placed back to back, sharing a slate roof. These were the living quarters for the operators. They were built on a platform quarried from the cliff and set about 25 metres above sea level.
The privies are opposite the cottages, discharging over the cliff. There are the remains of the toilet bowls in the concrete floor. The magazine was attached to the privies and had a separate brick vaulted roof which also survives.

National Trust, 1998, The National Trust Sites and Monuments Record. Compressed Site Reports. Lundy. SMR Sites Nos 108351-108500, 108427 (Report - non-specific). SDV344744.

Semi-detached pair of granite built, single-storey dwellings constructed by Trinity House for the managers of the fog warning battery system in 1863. The two cottages share a pyramidal slate roof with a centre stack carrying flour flues as well as sharing a front porch. They had spearate and identical outshuts for stores each with a catslide roof. A plaque once hung over the porch in the gable, inscribed with the date at which the cottages were built but unfortunately this has now been removed.

Ancient Monuments, 1998, Untitled Source (Schedule Document). SDV1303.

National Trust, 2002, The Archaeology and Landscape of Lundy: A Field Guide (Monograph). SDV7235.

English Heritage, 2010, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV154869.

Battery Cottages. Pair of attached cottages of fog signal gunners. Circa 1861 for Trinity House. Drressed granite with projecting plinth. Now roofless, probably originally slated. Central axial stack with red brick shaft. Double depth plan pair of cottages, each with a front and back zoom heated from a central axial stack and with unheated 2-cell outshuts either side with small room at the back.
Exterior: 1 storey. 1:3:1 bay front. Central granite porch with front window and side doorways, flanked by tall windows to front rooms and with small windows in outshuts set back to left and right. The sides of the outshuts have a doorway and a window. At the rear facing the cliff 2 large windows. All windows have granite lintels and cills, but frames missing.
Interior: gutted. Fireplaces in axial stack have granite lintels.
Note: The Old Lighthuse is situated at 470 feet above sea level and was often obscured by fog. In an attempt to solve the problem a fog signal battery was built in 1861 on cliffs below. The installation included these cottages for the gunners and a magazine and integral privies. In 1878 Trinity House substituted guncotton for the guns and in 1881 it was even considered that the lower light of the Old
Lighthouse should be moved to the Battery. Bells, hooters and whistles were also experimented with but The Old Lighthouse and Battery were eventually abandoned in 1897 when the North and South Lundy Lighthouses were built. Date listed: 7th October 1991.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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