place

Penlee Battery

Artillery batteriesCoastal artilleryCornwall building and structure stubsForts in CornwallMilitary history of Cornwall
Nature reserves in CornwallNature reserves of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Penlee Battery Nature Reserve geograph.org.uk 36857
Penlee Battery Nature Reserve geograph.org.uk 36857

Penlee Battery is a nature reserve lying on the coastal headland of Penlee Point on the Rame Peninsula, in southeast Cornwall, England. The site was formerly the location of a gun battery, constructed between 1889 and 1892. It was originally armed with two 6-inch BL guns and a 13.5-inch BL, the latter of which was the largest gun of the Plymouth defences. During World War I and II, the battery's armament was made up of three 9.2-inch guns.After the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom in 1956 the battery was disarmed and disposed of by the War Office. Many parts of the battery were demolished and gun positions filled in during the 1970s. One of the 6-inch emplacements remains intact, while the battery's magazines remain underground, but are filled in.It is home to a beach revealed at low tide, and is famous among dragonfly enthusiasts as the site where Britain's first Green Darner dragonfly was found, in 1998.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Penlee Battery (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Penlee Battery
The Earl's Drive,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Penlee BatteryContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.320277777778 ° E -4.1930555555556 °
placeShow on map

Address

The Earl's Drive
PL10 1PJ , Maker-with-Rame
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Penlee Battery Nature Reserve geograph.org.uk 36857
Penlee Battery Nature Reserve geograph.org.uk 36857
Share experience

Nearby Places

Grenville Battery
Grenville Battery

Grenville Battery is a former coastal artillery battery, built to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. The battery was originally built between 1760 and 1791 as part of the Maker Redoubt line and then named 'Maker No 4 (North Gloucester) Redoubt', it was intended to form part of a long defensive line of bastions to a larger fort which was never built. The battery had 15 gun embrasures. It was disarmed in 1815. The re-modelling of the battery was proposed in 1885 on the recommendations of the Stanhope Committee report and completed in 1887. It was renamed Grenville Battery in 1899. It was built with emplacements for two 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns which were both mounted. However, in 1890 they were moved to nearby Maker Battery. The gun positions were served by underground magazines. The rear of the battery is enclosed by a loopholed wall, small ditch and drawbridge. There was no barrack accommodation at the battery, but a small cookhouse was built to cater for the men expected to man the battery and nearby Maker Battery.The battery was upgraded with newer armament in 1899 when the battery was re-modelled for three 4.7-inch Quick Firing (QF) guns which were installed by 1901. These remained in place until 1927 when they were dismounted. The battery was abandoned by the War Office in 1948. The battery remains complete and was Grade II listed in 1972.It was overgrown for many years, but in 2020 the battery was cleared of undergrowth and accumulated rubbish by the Rame Conservation Trust, with financial support from Historic England.