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| HER Number: | MDV51598 |
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| Name: | Meavy, Yennadon Down AA Battery |
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Summary
The site of a Second World War searchlight battery, this was known as searchlight battery no. EXD _ located at Dousland. It was manned by 385 Searchlight Battery whose Battery Headquarters were located at Hazeldene, Elburton. It was operational by February 1944.
Location
| Grid Reference: | SX 542 682 |
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| Map Sheet: | SX56NW |
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| Admin Area | Dartmoor National Park |
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| Civil Parish | Meavy |
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| District | West Devon |
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| Ecclesiastical Parish | MEAVEY |
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| Ecclesiastical Parish | MEAVY |
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Protected Status: none recorded
Other References/Statuses
- National Monuments Record: SX56NW60
- National Record of the Historic Environment: 1560579
- Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NW/200
Monument Type(s) and Dates
- ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERY (Constructed, World War II - 1944 AD (Between) to 1945 AD (Between))
- SEARCHLIGHT BATTERY (World War II - 1944 AD (Between) to 1945 AD (Between))
Full description
Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.
Remains of this site visible on the 1940s aerial photography.
Pye, A., 1992, Plymouth Fortress Survey (Report - non-specific). SDV167755.
SX 5425 6830 Yennadon Down AA Battery. Site of a WWII anti-aircraft battery located on the south-west flank of Yennadon down at 250-260m OD, with extensive views to the west and south. Possibly a temporary battery (F. W. Woodward, pers. comm. ), perhaps protecting Yelverton airfield or firing at planes approaching or leaving Plymouth which were using the darker edge of the moor as a guide. Remains consist of four concrete Nissen hut-bases, three aligned along the field bank bordering the enclosed fields and one sited further upslope and to the south. No gun emplacements visible in the sloping ground; one possible foxhole sited adjacent to the path to the south-east (see sketch in SMR). Approached via a track from Dousland, retaining traces of tarmac surfacing. Lack of emplacements suggests either that the guns were mobile or that the site of the aa battery lay elsewhere. Currently moorland, with scrub. One hut has a visible concrete base and steps, the others survive only as terraces. Demolished.
Lowry, Bernard (ed.), 1995, 20th Century Defences in Britain: An Introductory Guide, 63, No. 12 (Monograph). SDV362273.
Searchlight sites typically comprised a small ring-ditch to provide the crew with shelter during an air raid, a predictor emplacement for calculating the height and range of targets, a light anti-aircraft machine gun pit, a generator and hutted accommodation for the crew. During the Second World War searchlights were manned by the Royal Artillery and were under the control of the Army's Anti-Aircraft Command.
Dobinson, C. S., 2000, Searchlight sites in WWII, 38 (Report - non-specific). SDV323811.
The site of a Second World War searchlight battery, this was known as searchlight battery no. EXD _ located at Dousland at SX 543682. It was manned by 385 Searchlight Battery whose Battery Headquarters were located at Hazeldene, Elburton. It was operational by 09-FEB-1944.
Sources / Further Reading
| SDV167755 | Report - non-specific: Pye, A.. 1992. Plymouth Fortress Survey. A4 Unbound. |
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| SDV323811 | Report - non-specific: Dobinson, C. S.. 2000. Searchlight sites in WWII. Twentieth Century Fortifications in England. AA/1. A4 Stapled + Digital. 38. |
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| SDV342938 | Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946 - 1949. Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Digital). [Mapped feature: #141728 ] |
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| SDV362273 | Monograph: Lowry, Bernard (ed.). 1995. 20th Century Defences in Britain: An Introductory Guide. . 63, No. 12. |
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Associated Monuments
| MDV71936 | Related to: Archerton Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71945 | Related to: Buckfastleigh Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71948 | Related to: Cornwood Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71977 | Related to: Cranbrook Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV28264 | Related to: Diversion leat channel on Yennadon Down (Monument) |
| MDV71946 | Related to: Downstow Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV72029 | Related to: Druid, Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71987 | Related to: Hedge Barton Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71938 | Related to: Huccaby Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71981 | Related to: Leign Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV72040 | Related to: Lynch Common, Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71942 | Related to: Peatcot Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71937 | Related to: Rendlestone Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71940 | Related to: Sampford Spiney Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71989 | Related to: Sanduck Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71939 | Related to: Searchlight on Bittleford Common (Monument) |
| MDV71935 | Related to: Shapley Common Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71990 | Related to: Shuttamoor Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV72025 | Related to: Sigford, Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV28260 | Related to: Spoil heaps at Yennadon Iron Mine (Monument) |
| MDV71975 | Related to: St Johns Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV71944 | Related to: Stoke Searchlight (Monument) |
| MDV72021 | Related to: Ullacombe, Searchlight (Monument) |
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events
- EDV2274 - Survey of Yannadon Down AA Battery
| Date Last Edited: | Nov 28 2023 11:05AM |
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