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Summary

Remains of a Napoleonic gun battery at Beer Head.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY28NW/92
• Tide Project: 19/08/2020

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BATTERY (Built, XIX - 1801 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Battery (Remains of) marked on the edge of the cliff at Beer Head.

Ordnance Survey, 1938, 83SE + 95NE. Revision of 1933/1903 with additions in 1938. Provisional Edition (Cartographic). SDV335975.

Battery (Remains of) marked on second edition 6 inch Ordnance Survey map.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003-2004, East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey, Site No. 2797 (Archive - Survey). SDV351568.

On Ordnance Survey 1933/38 map.
SMR.

Exeter Archaeology, 2004, East Devon AONB Archaeological Survey. Beer Head and Berry Camp (Report - non-specific). SDV347613.

The battery is being lost to coastal erosion and recording of the remains is recommended.

Horner, B., 2006, Beer Head (Correspondence). SDV361966.

A map of 1787 and Dessiou's 'Directions for Navigation throughout the English Channel', 1816 both refer to an anchorage but not to a battery. However, it is shown on an undated panoramic view of the 'Coast from the Island of Portyland to the High Land of Orcom near Exmouth' possibly by R. Dane, Captain, Royal Engineers. G.R. Pulman in 'The Book of the Axe' published in 1875 refers to a ten gun battery at Beer Head during the Napoleonic invasion scare. It appears to have just comprised a hut nearby for the men to shelter in. 'One night, in the absence of the men, a portion of the cliff fell into the sea, carrying with it the guns and the hut'.

Payne, N., 2013, Site of Battery at Beer Head. (Correspondence). SDV350915.

Correspondence quoting Pulman's Book of the Axe (1875), and the mention of the Exeter Universtiy summer excavation 2006, not yet published, however, Bill Horner has some images.
“At Beer Head was a battery of ten guns, or rather ten guns were placed upon the cliff, for there was no breast-work, and the men who worked them had shelter in a hut close by. The guns were frequently exercised, but happily were not required for active service. One night, during the absence of the men, a portion of the cliff fell into the sea, carrying with it the guns and the hut.” (Pulman, Book of the Axe, p. 842, note 2).

Ordnance Survey, 2020, MasterMap 2020 (Cartographic). SDV363413.

Battery (Remains of) marked.

Horner, B., 2022, Archaeological observation, 11-FEB-2022 (Personal Comment). SDV364743.

The 1803 OS Surveyor's draft records the magazine of the Napoleonic gun battery on the headland to the west of the Admiralty Flag Signal Station on Southdown Common.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV5183 - Assessment of Berry Camp and Beer Head

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