Landguard Fort. Victorian Forts. Harwich 1. Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position. Armament

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1 1 Landguard Fort Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position Type Ditch Guns Barrack Accom. Present use History Disposal Condition Access Sources unknown TM Mouth of River Orwell & Stour Pentagon with Bastions Dry 12 unknown Listed building - English Heritage. Ravelin block used for museum Barracks batteries and submarine mines Fair Parts open for tours in Summer plus museum in Ravelin. Landguard Fort D.A.Wood History of Landguard Fort - Major Leslie Armament Fort Only 1876 on site 4 x 9-inch RMLs 1886 on site Keep 4 x 12.5-inch 38 ton RMLs 3 x 10-inch 18 ton RMLs Casemates 2 x 10-inch RMLs 1 x 12.5-inch RML Caponiers Counterscarp galleries Haxo casemates Moncrieff Pits History and Description The present Landguard fort is the last in a long line of defences built on the point protecting the natural harbour of. The site appears to be first occupied in the 1500s. Another significant fort was constructed on the site in 1588 followed by others in the 1600s. The first true Landguard Fort is considered to be that of consisting of a square bastioned trace with unrevetted ditch. This was improved in 1667 and replaced in Landguard Fort II consisted of a closed lunette, a sea battery or a brick redoubt, as it has been variously described. It had no bastions but instead employed a caponier and counterscarp galleries. Landguard Fort III of 1744 may have incorporated parts of the previous fort and consisted of a bastioned pentagon with a ditch, covered way and glacis enclosing a large barrack block and Governor s house. It was heavily criticised and therefore modified. In 1853 General Burgoyne looked at the fort and suggested that it be destroyed. Nothing was done until when radical changes had already begun. The interior was replaced by a semi-circular defensible barracks, the main face and centre bastion were replaced by a casemated front of granite for seven RMLs fronted at ditch level by a caponier. The remaining bastions and walls were rebuilt for RML guns and howitzers. In 1877 a controlled minefield was allocated to the defences. A ravelin block containing a Submarine Mining Establishment was constructed together with a pier and ancillary buildings with magazines and cable ponds. Search lights were then added. The area surrounding the fort was used for a substantial complex of additional sea batteries. The Fort is now open to the public under the control of English Heritage. The Ravelin Block to the rear of the Fort, is now a museum. Darrell s Battery, and the Left and Right Batteries may be visited by arrangement with the Fort.

2 1 Landguard Fort

3 1a Landguard Wing (Left) Battery Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position Type Ditch Guns Barrack Accom. Present use ,252 (actual 1891) 3,918 (1899) TM Seaward, East of Landguard Fort Coast Defence Battery 3 Huts on common Abandoned Armament x 6-inch BL HP MkIV (no.2) 1 x 10-inch BL HP (no.1) x 6-inch BL HP MkIV (no.2 & 3) 1 x 10-inch BL HP (no.1) x 10-inch BL HP (no.1) 1909 none x 10-inch (no.1) 1914 none x 6-inch H.A. Experimental History Coast defence to 1913 Caponiers Disposal Condition Access Sources Crown land 10-inch sealed, 6-inch filled site nature reserve, no access to sealed gun pit WO plans & 5/3259 5/17 of 1898 WO78 WO 192 Owen report 1904 Counterscarp galleries Haxo casemates Moncrieff Pits History and Description Construction Started on Wing Battery in December 1888 and was completed in January In February 1898 further work was carried out on No 3 Gun at Wing Battery, and completed in April An 1897 Survey, shows Wing Battery, at a scale of 30ft. to 1 inch, with three gun positions and an existing HP Gun Emplacement to the rear of the battery. (the Easton and Anderson design of 1891) It shows no Artillery Store. In l903 plans were made for remounting the guns in the Battery, the 10-inch on a barbette carriage and the 6-inch on CP mounts, but nothing was done for lack of money. Around this time the name changed from Wing to Left Battery. Between 1906 and 1914, the two 6-inch Mk IV HP from Left Battery and the 10-inch BLS from both Left and Right Batteries. were removed, the 10-inch HP in 1909, 10-inch LCP in 1911, however a l0-inch was remounted in Left Battery in Q and R towers were made redundant when the 10-inch BL guns were removed from Landguard they had served as the position finding stations. In 1922 the position was used to mount two experimental High Angle 6 inch gun mountings, until the Second World War, when the No. 1 position was roofed over and an as an anti aircraft operations room later moved to Q tower. Later it became an ammunition store for the 6-inch Mark 24 guns of Right Battery. Much of the rear of it was bulldozed during the port expansion. The pits for the 6-inch were filled in the 1950s, with only the aprons left visible. The 10-inch is roofed and sealed All form part of the nature reserve but remain crown land under English Heritage. In 2000 English Heritage removed the earth covering from the gun emplacements, revealing a rare Tressider s Cartridge Store beneath the left side of the no.2 emplacement, complete with winch and cartridge trolley.

4 1a Landguard Wing Left Battery Landguard Left Wing Battery

5 1b Landguard Wing Right Battery Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position Type Ditch Guns Barrack Accom. Present use ,950 TM East of Landguard Fort Coast Defence Battery 3 Huts Bird Observatory Armament x 6-inch BL CP Mk2 1 x 10-inch BL Mk 3 LCP Mk x 6-inch BL Wire Mk 7 1 x 10-inch removed x 6-inch Mk x 6-inch Long Range RCD 15522C 1 x 6-inch Mk x 6-inch Mk 7 with shields x 6-inch Mk7 (nos 1 &2) 2 x 6-inch Mk 24 (H1 & H2) x 6-inch Mk24 History Coast Battery to 1956 Caponiers Disposal Condition Access Crown land E.H. lease Heavily Overgrown Via observatory Counterscarp galleries Haxo casemates Sources WO plans WO Yorke Moncrieff Pits History and Description Construction of the New Right Flank Battery started in The fortification being specially designed for Landguard. It was armed in 190l with two BL 6-inch wire Mk7 on CP Mk2 mounts, firing 100 lb. Piercing shell, range 12,000 yards, and one BL 10-inch gun Mk3 on a barbette BL 10-inch Mk 4, LCP. (Low central pivot) firing 500 lb. AP shell, range 11,500 yards. The southern most No 1 Emplacement was armed with one 6 inch, The northern No 2 emplacement held one 6 inch, the northern No 3 one 10 inch. This was later reported as - experimental, the only one of its type. Yorke - a 10-inch on a Mk5 mounting, like an enormous 9.2-inch. - the Mk5 Mount, introduced It may have been the prototype for the later standard CP mounted 10-inch, or for the 9.2-inch High Angle designed to replace the 9-inch RML HA guns, installed at Gibraltar and Plymouth and declared obsolete in In 1911 the 10 inch was removed and its emplacement in 1912, No 3 Emplacement Right Battery converted to Fire Control, now the bird observatory. The two 6-inch remained the main armament From 1914 to 1942 with some equipment modifications and experiments in between. In 1919 Landguard Right Battery No 1 was changed to 6-inch BL Long Range Gun from RCD C(1) in place of 5-inch BL MkVII. This is probably the early work on High Angle mountings. The second world war saw overhead protection added and the building of H1 and H2 positions, fitted with 6-inch Mark 24 guns further north along the protective bank and in 1943 they took on the defence role. The 6-inch Mk 7 finally being put to other uses. The plan to put the third gun in No.1 Emplacement Right Battery, the old experimental long range site of 1919, was not carried out. At the north of the bank between the batteries, where the road now enters the foreshore. Two 3pdr. practise guns existed, positions now covered by the road. Just south of them in front of H2, 6-inch Mk24 shell stores, in the bird sanctuary, - two 6-inch Mk2 on Slide carriages, were emplaced as practise guns. (Ord BL 6-inch gun Mk4 or 6 on carriage garrison barbette BL 6-inch Mk1 or 2, or Vavasseur CP Mk1. introduced in 1885 and The Mk2 barbette of 1894 being a more compact version of the Vavasseur Mk1 mounting, 24 bolts in a circle.) From Battery manned Landguard 6-inch Battery with 2 x 6-inch Mk24 on Mk5 mountings. Range 24,000 yards. They remained the main armament to 1956 when the coast artillery disbanded.

6 1b Landguard Wing Right Battery

7 1c Landguard Minefield/Darrell s Battery Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position Type Ditch Guns Barrack Accom. Present use ,798 TM West of Landguard Fort Barbette battery 2 Inside Landguard Fort Armament x 4.7-inch Q.F Nil Temporary 2 x 12pdr. Q.F x twin 6pdr. Q.F x twin 6pdr. Q.F. History Coast Battery to 1956 Caponiers Disposal Condition Access Crown Land - E.H. lease Overgrown Via gate Counterscarp galleries Haxo casemates Sources WO plans 5/351, WO192,Yorke Moncrieff Pits History and Description Construction of the New Minefield Battery started in The fortification being designed for protection of the Estuary entrance. It was armed in 1901 with two Q.F. 4.7-inch guns on central pivot mounts, firing a 45lb. common point Lyddite shell, range 11,800 yards. It occupies the right of the old position of Beauclerk s Battery. Provided for anti-torpedo boat defence, manned in 1914 by No. 13 Coy. R.G.A. to cover the minefield, re-laid by the Navy. In or about 1919 dismounted. serviced and greased. Remounted soon after, now in the care of the TA. The second world war saw the manning of the guns again. The plans to re-arm with Twin-six pounders allowing the dismounting of both guns. In early 1940 they were sent with a detachment of 166 (Ipswich) Battery to Norway. The Luftwaffe bombed the transport and sunk it while the detachment was digging gun pits on shore, the guns and all equipment being lost. While the rebuilding was under way, as a temporary measure, two 12 pounder Q.F. were mounted to the north of the battery on the top of the river wall bank. The platform for the northern most can still be seen clearly. The southern platform is thought to be buried between the northern two of the coastal defence searchlights. At the north of the bank between the battery and the searchlight emplacements, the remains of the Victorian minefield narrow gauge railway cutting the bank can be seen. In 1940 the two Twin-Six s were built over the position using the old battery as foundations. The Mk I rate of fire was 72 rounds per minute, guns in low angle use only. Just after the war, all 6pdr. twins were converted for dual purpose AA use, with an improved rate of fire of 96 rpm. Post War they remained part of the main armament to 1956 when the coast artillery disbanded, in the care of 233 Independent Maintenance. Battery. Royal Artillery, and 419th Coast Regiment Royal Artillery (TA). Good photographs exist of them in

8 1c Landguard Minefield/Darrell s Battery

9 2 Shotley Point Battery Commenced Completed Cost Map Reference Position Type Ditch Guns Barrack Accom. Present use History Disposal Condition Access Sources ,541 TM Shotley Point Polygonal harbour defence Dry with Carnot wall 14 x 68prs. (initially) 6 men Within the H.M.S. Ganges complex. Police Training Estab. Battery until 1901, then Naval Shore Establishment Sold to private contractor. Part demolished, derelict, overgrown No access for security reasons Fortification of East Anglia, Peter Kent. WO , 4174, Work43 413, 414 Armament x 68pr. Guns x 7-inch R.M.L. 7-tons on dwarf W.I. Carriages x 10-inch R.M.L. On Long range mountings Caponiers Counterscarp galleries Haxo casemates Moncrieff Pits History and Description The battery was built to the designs of Col. W.F.D. Jervois cancelling a previous more complex and expensive design. The battery is seven sided with the guns set on the four faces facing the mouth of the Rivers Stow and Orwell. The construction is brick heavily reinforced with earth. There is a dry ditch with a brick Carnot wall 19 feet high. Guns 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, & 14 fire through embrasures but numbers 3, 7, & 12 at the corners of the fortification are en-barbette. The Carnot wall was was extended to close the gorge of the battery and was loopholed. There were three magazines but only two were bombproof. The original armament was 14 x 68pdr. on traversing carriages but these were were changed in about 1873 to 14 x 7-inch R.M.L. guns of 7 tons on dwarf wrought iron traversing platforms. In 1891 it was decided to re-arm 4 x 10-inch R.M.L. guns on long range mountings but only two emplacements with magazines were built. These obliterated six of the original emplacements. The guns were last used in The battery was transferred to the Admiralty in 1904 as a shore establishment, H.M.S. Ganges, for boy entrants to the Navy. The right hand side of the battery was demolished to make way for accommodation blocks. On the closure of H.M.S. Ganges the site was sold to a civilian contractor and the accommodation blocks and the gorge wall have been demolished. The embrasures and emplacements for guns 11 to 14 can be traced and the magazines are accessible but the site is very overgrown.

10 Victorian Forts Shotley Point Battery (Peter Kent) 10-inch RML Emplacement 2