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Whitsand Fort Gun Battery

Due to the presence of the major Royal Navy dockyard at Devonport, Plymouth Sound was heavily fortified as a result of the 1859/60 Royal Commission that reviewed coastal defence arrangements in the wake of French re-armament. Chains of forts were built to protect both the land and sea approaches to the dockyard ensuring enemy forces were kept out of effective artillery range. To the west of the dockyard was the Rame peninsula, a relatively thin stretch of high ground beyond which was Whitsand Bay and the English Channel. Two major facilities - Tregantle and Scraesdon forts – had been built to prevent an enemy force landing further west and seizing the high ground overlooking the dockyard. Furthermore, to prevent a landing behind these installations, Polhawn Battery had been built to cover Whitsand Bay. In 1860 the prevailing view was the guns of Tregantle and Polhawn, coupled with the fact that the high cliffs and rocky foreshore, would make a landing at Whitsand impossible. However, within just a few decades of the 1860 fort building programme, developments in artillery had changed the situation significantly. By the 1880s it was possible for ships to anchor in Whitsand Bay and bombard the dockyard from the sea whilst concurrently being beyond the range of the existing forts. Accordingly two new installations were constructed to cover the bay - Tregantle High Angle Battery and Whitsand Bay Battery. Work started on Whitsand Bay Battery in 1889 and took just over five years to complete. Its offensive armament consisted of three 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading guns and two 6-inch Breach Loading weapons. All five were in place by 1893. The battery was also given comprehensive defences against a direct attack with a ditch surrounding the entire site that was covered by three octagonal caponiers fitted with machine guns. The battery was built with sufficient barracks for accommodating 40 men. The armament of the battery was reviewed in 1897 when the 6-inch guns were removed leaving just the three 12.5-inch weapons to serve throughout World War I. However, after that conflict ended the battery was deemed superfluous and by 1920 it had been disarmed. It was not reactivated during World War II as the batteries at Rame Head were deemed to provide sufficient protection but it was used as a radar station. Today Whitsand Battery remains in good condition, having been partly restored with the help of English Heritage, and is currently in use as a caravan park. Reff - Castles Forts Batlles .co.uk