Yaverland Battery
Constructed in the early 1860’s, Yaverland Battery is situated close to Sandown on the south of the Isle of Wight. It was originally armed with 8 x 7” RML guns and there is ample magazine provision at the battery. The entire battery was enclosed by a looped Carnot wall and two caponiers projected into the ditch. To the rear of the battery were the barracks, which could garrison up to 59 men (including officers). At each end of the barracks were two more caponiers.
Golden Hill Fort
Hexagonal in shape, construction of Golden Hill Fort took place between 1863 and 1868 at the top of Golden Hill on the Isle of Wight. Its main purpose was as a defensible barracks and as a keep for the batteries defending the Needles passage. It was not designed to withstand a sustained bombardment, but provided barrack accommodation for the gunners of the two nearby batteries at Cliff End and Warden Point, as well as being a central point for defending troops should an enemy force have landed on the Island. It was planned for 18 light guns on the roof of the fort but on completion, Golden Hill Fort was armed with 6 x 40pr RBLs.
Fort Bembridge
The 1860’s Royal Commission resulted in a massive fort building program and the Isle of Wight was no exception to this. On the east side of the island Fort Bembridge was constructed to act as a keep to the four coastal batteries in Sandown Bay. It was also designed to act as a final retreat had the Isle of Wight been invaded.
Grain Fort Updated
The Isle of Grain has long been of strategic importance for safeguarding the entrance to the River Medway and the 1860 Royal Commission called for a casemated fort around the existing Grain Tower. However this did not proceed and Grain Fort was constructed as a separate site.
The fort began as a large heptagonal earthwork surrounding a large semi-circular keep. At the front of the fort was a ditch defended by four caponiers. Another inner ditch surrounded the keep and was defended by three caponiers and two demi-caponiers.
Website Update, last update 24.05.10
06.04.10
Wartling Bunker Updated
21.02.10
Dover Report Added
21.02.10
Grain Tower Battery Updated
18.12.10
Grain Fort Updated
08.10.09
Snowdown Colliery
08.10.09
Alland Grange Chalk Mine Updated
08.10.09
High Down Rocket Test Site
06.06.09
Yaverland Battery
06.06.09
Goldernhill Fort
06.06.09
Fort Bembridge
Snowdown Colliery
The possibility of coal in Kent had been considered as early as the 1840’s but no serious investigations were done until much later and coal was finally discovered around the Dover area in 1890. However, the coal proved very difficult to mine and it took many failed attempts and several years before any coal was finally brought to the surface. Eventually, only 4 mines were successful and Snowdown was one of them.
Construction of Snowdown began in 1907, however tragedy soon struck when the first shaft hit a water pocket, very common in the chalk greensand beds of the Dover area. The water gushed through, killing 22 men. However, work continued and in November 1912 Snowdown Colliery became the first mine to successfully bring coal to the surface.
Alland Grange Chalk Mine Updated
Access to this mine was only possible after getting permission directly from the farmer. Alland Grange chalk mine is located in Thanet. It was possibly used to supply chalk locally for brick making. Later on it could well have been used for growing mushrooms or for storage. During the second world war it is almost certain that people would have used these mines for shelter. Manston airfield is so close to these mines that aerial bombardment was inevitable.
High Down Rocket Test Site
The New Needles Battery was originally completed in 1895 and fully manned until 1918. It was brought back into action during the Second World War but in 1954 arguably the most interesting phase of its use began.
By this time Britain had successfully exploded nuclear and thermonuclear (hydrogen, or H-bombs) and was looking for a delivery system by means of an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM. The British ICBM programme was codenamed Blue Streak and a great deal of experimental work needed to be done as rocket science was still relatively new at this time. The rocket that was designed, developed and tested at the High Down Test Site, which was built over the complex of buildings that had previously made up the New Needles Battery, was known as Black Knight.
Wartling Bunker Updated
RAF Wartling became operational in 1941 as a radar station. In 1943 it was fitted with a larger type of radar which consisted of a rotating aerial array with both the transmitter and receiver beneath the array. RAF Wartling and its radar played a crucial part in the war, tracking, intercepting and thereby enabling the destruction of some 380 V1 (the so-called Doodlebug) flying bombs.
Grain Tower Battery
The original structure at Grain Tower, built in 1855, was based on the earlier Martello Towers that were first constructed as a defence against Napoleon in the early 19th century. It stands off shore on Grain Spit in the Medway and the original tower was built of brick covered in granite. The fire from Grain Tower would support that from Garrison Point and would defend both the entrance to the River Medway and the sea front of Sheerness. The guns of the 1855 Tower were mounted on the roof and fired en barbette (that is, the gun is fired over a wall rather than through an embrasure).
Dover Report Added
A castle of international fame, Dover Castle has seen enormous changes over nine centuries. It has been lain siege to, housed some of Britain’s most famous monarchs, withstood Civil War and two World Wars and was even in operational use during the Cold War. Probably some of the biggest changes are those that have taken place out of sight; Dover Castle has underground tunnel complexes that formed an integral and essential part of its defence.
24.05.10
Ellington Girls School Air Raid Shelter
Ellington Girls School Air Raid Shelter, Ramsgate
Ellington Girls School was built in 1914 at the time of the outbreak of the First World War. The possibility of air attack was a real threat by this time and the air raid shelter was built beneath the school as a result of that threat. During the First World War a total of 52 air raids were launched against Britain from German Zeppelin airships, resulting in the loss of over 500 lives.
The main tunnel is 47m long and can be accessed from 3 entrances. It was cut directly in the chalk beneath the school. Inside were flights of wooden steps and two sets of toilets. While the shelter was not heavily used in the First World War, it did see significantly more use during World War Two.
