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Summary

Site of a 19th century fort at Exmouth.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1413124
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY08SW/283

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FORT (XVIII to XIX - 1701 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

Passmore, A., 09/2014, Exmouth Fort, Exmouth, Devon, Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV357199.

Elements of the fort were exposed during storms and coastal erosion in December 2013 and January 2014.
The fort was constructed in 1862, and was described as being of quadrate form, with three embrasures and enclosing a bomb-proof magazine and a battery keeper's
dwelling. It contained three thirty-two pounder guns and one eight inch mortar, and was used by the Exmouth Volunteer Artillery. It was demolished in the early 20th
century when Marine Drive and the associated sea defences were constructed, leaving only the storeroom.
It was depicted as a 'Fort' on an 1887 Admiralty Chart facing southeast, i.e. outwards towards the incoming shipping channel leading to the Exe Estuary. No structural detail
is given on the 1888 1:500 Ordnance Survey (OS), which shows the same shape as the earlier chart. The 1:2500 map produced in 1889 however depicts small structures within its north corner, and attached to its north and west sides, the latter also having entrance off the road to the north. The 1906 1:2500 shows a new larger structure attached to its west side. Following demolition of the fort, the latter structure was retained and is depicted on the 1930s 1:2500 OS mapping.
Two in situ remains of the fort were exposed, representing two elements of a single gun emplacement. The remains are supports for the racer rails on which the guns traversed. They are formed from curved blocks of granite measuring 0.60m wide by 0.55m high with rounded upper edges. A further granite block is also present. This block and the adjacent granite block in masonry display infilled voids, probably for iron ties to hold the blocks together. Both groups of blocks are laid onto wider concrete bases formed from pebbles, sand, lime mortar and stone poured in layers. Further elements of these structures may survive buried under the sand dune to the north.
Block 5 is currently resting on one of two groups of L-shaped masonry. They survive to a height of 0.40m and the visible masonry includes projecting footings. These are constructed of coursed limestone bonded in hard white lime mortar containing some coal and slate inclusions. Two of the faces are finished with rows of red bricks laid in stretcher bond; these have the stamp"1861" in the frog. Where visible and surviving the other faces are finished in hard mid grey gravelly mortar.
The recorded remains represent two structures associated with the fort – a gun emplacement almost certainly in situ, and the remains of an interior building, possibly also roughly in its original position.
The gun emplacement is represented by the granite blocks (and their footings) forming the 'chairs' for two pairs of concentric racer rails on which the gun carriage would have turned.
The later 19th- and early 20th-century Ordnance Survey maps depict various arrangements for the enclosing circuit of the fort, perhaps in part because a full and accurate representation was deliberately omitted from the earliest maps when the fort was still in use. It is likely that the fort was formed by earthwork, possibly sand, ramparts retained by an inner stone curtain wall. The emplacements would have been open, within the fort. Embrasures may have been provided within the enclosing circuit or alternatively the guns may have fired over the top of the low rampart.
The brick and limestone masonry clearly form part of the same structure, and given their size and location are likely to be associated with the fort. The brick facing to one elevation may indicate that they form part of the magazine. This material was commonly used to line such buildings, for example locally at the Napoleonic forts at Berry Head where the main walls are constructed in local limestone and the interiors are lined with brick. From their orientations it is clear that neither fragment of masonry is in situ. However, it is possible that they have been displaced from a nearby position. The 1906 OS map depicts a building close to the southwest corner of the fort, roughly in the position of present masonry, which is
surrounded by a blast mound or traverse on two sides, a common feature of explosives' magazines. If this interpretation is correct, then the recorded gun emplacement probably represents the southernmost of the three gun positions.
Semi-circular masonry recorded in front of the emplacement may also form part of the fort. Its construction indicates that the outer face was intended for to be visible. A 1906 postcard shows a circular tower on the west side of the fort probably adjacent to its entrance. It is possible that the masonry forms part of this structure.
Map object based on this source.

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

Possible site of fort depicted on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map. Map object based on this source.

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1887, Extract from Admiralty Chart (Cartographic). SDV342661.

Fort marked on Admiralty Chart of 1887.

Gent, T. + Manning, P., 2013, Draft Environmental Statement on Land off Queens Drive, Exmouth, 6.3.3; table 6.1; figure 6.2 (Un-published). SDV351666.

A fort is marked on an Admiralty chart of 1887. This presumably represents the battery built adjacent to the coastguard station in 1862, which is described as being of quadrate form, with three embrasures and
enclosing a bomb-proof magazine and a battery keeper's dwelling. It contained three thirty-two pounder guns and one eight inch mortar, and was used by the Exmouth Volunteer Artillery. It is said to have been demolished in the 1920s, or in 1908 leaving only the storeroom. The fort is shown on the OS map of 1890(Fig. 6.6), including a rectangular area adjacent to the west. The embankment had been reduced by 1905 (Fig. 6.7), although a further structure is depicted within the south end of the fort. Both maps show associated boundary stones. By 1920 Marine Drive had been built, seemingly over the northern part of the fort, and of the remainder only the late southern building is shown, amongst a line of boathouses (Fig. 6.8). Four large granite stones, believed to have been the boundary stones, were exposed in the sand in 1989 and placed alongside the lifeboat station. Remnants of a stone structure were visible in the sand to the south of the road at the time of the site visit.

Pink, F., 2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment (Interpretation). SDV357736.

Exmouth Journal, 2014, Storms Reveal Napoleonic Sea Defences on Beach (Article in Serial). SDV356530.

Recent storms have unearthed the brick base of the former gun emplacement, just east of the old lifeboat house.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV342661	Cartographic: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. 1887. Extract from Admiralty Chart. Admiralty Chart. Photocopy.
SDV351666	Un-published: Gent, T. + Manning, P.. 2013. Draft Environmental Statement on Land off Queens Drive, Exmouth. Digital. 6.3.3; table 6.1; figure 6.2.
SDV356530	Article in Serial: Exmouth Journal. 2014. Storms Reveal Napoleonic Sea Defences on Beach. Exmouth Journal. Digital.
SDV357199	Report - Survey: Passmore, A.. 09/2014. Exmouth Fort, Exmouth, Devon, Archaeological Survey. AC Archaeology. ACD920/1/0. Digital.
SDV357736	Interpretation: Pink, F.. 2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment. AC Archaeology Report. ACD618/4/3. Digital.
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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