|
Palmerston Forts, Plymouth
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Several of the forts surrounding Plymouth were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases in the south of the country. The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom reported in 1860 and resulted in a huge building programme. Examples of the forts are: * Agaton Fort * Fort Austin *Fort Bovisand * Bowden Fort * Brownhill Battery * Cawsand Fort * Crownhill Fort * Drake's Island Battery * Egg Buckland Keep * Ernesettle Fort * Fort Efford * Forder Battery *Hawkins Battery *Knowles Battery * Laira Battery * Mount Edgcumbe Garden Battery *Penlee Battery * Picklecombe Fort * Plymouth Breakwater Fort * Polhawn Battery * Raleigh Battery * Fort Scraesdon *Staddon Fort * Stamford Fort * Fort Tregantle * Watch House Battery * Whitesand Bay Battery * Woodlands Fort References * Woodward, F. W. (1998) ''Forts or Follies''. Devon Books, 1998; Barbarossa Books * Plymouth Ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century, now called Plymouth. In 1588, an English fleet based in Plymouth intercepted and defeated the Spanish Armada. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony, the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War, the town was held by the Roundhead, Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knowles Battery
Knowles Battery is a former 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the ..., after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the landward approaches to the north east of Plymouth, as an element of the plan for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. Designed by Captain (later Maj General) Edmund Frederick Du Cane, it was built by George Baker and Company and finished by the Royal Engineers. It was designed to be armed with thirteen guns. Fire from the battery linked with nearby Woodlands Fort and Agaton Fort By the early 1900s the fort had become obsolete as a defensive position and was dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitesand Bay Battery
Whitsand Bay, situated in south east Cornwall, England, runs from Rame Head in the east to Portwrinkle in the west. It is characterised by sheer, high cliffs, dramatic scenery and long stretches of sandy beaches. The South West Coast Path runs the length of the bay. Geography The bay is overlooked by Rame Head, a conical hill with the ruins of a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St Michael on top. Polhawn Cove is a rough beach, consisting of sharp rocks, shingle and an area of open sand. West of Captain Blake's Point, long stretches of sand are interspersed with rocky headlands and small bays, many inaccessible at high tide. The holiday settlements of Freathy and Tregonhawke are built on terraces on the cliff faces. A National Trust property at Sharrow Point preserves a small cave excavated by hand in 1874 by a hermit called Lugger, who inscribed verses on the ceiling to relieve his boredom. Lugger's Cave is fenced off to the public. The headland forms part of ''Rame Head & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watch House Battery
Watch House Battery is a former 19th-century gun battery, built as one of a number of batteries to defend the Eastern approaches to Plymouth Sound, for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. The battery was originally built as a small pentagonal redoubt with emplacements for five guns. By 1893 it was armed with two 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading Guns. In 1901 the battery was reconstructed for two 6-inch Mark VII breech loading guns with the work being completed in 1903. During the First World War the battery was manned by the Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery. After the Second World War the battery remained armed until the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom in 1956 when it was disarmed. It was released by the military and subsequently used as a children's activity centre for some years. It was Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Tregantle
Tregantle Fort in south east Cornwall is one of several forts surrounding Plymouth that were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases on the Channel coast. History The fort was originally designed by Captain William Crossman, with later modifications by Captain (later Maj General) Edmund Frederick Du Cane, Construction commenced in 1859 and was completed in 1865. When originally designed it had provision for 35 large guns. By 1893 the guns consisted of five RBL 7 inch Armstrong guns and nineteen RML 64-pounders, together with a number of 32 Pounder Smooth Bore Breech Loading (SBBL) guns. It was also designed with barrack accommodation for 2,000 men in two-tiered casemates at the rear of the Fort. In the event, far smaller garrisons have been based there, with only six gunners in 1882. Early in the 1900s it became an infantry battalion headquarters with 14 officers and 423 other ranks, and from 1903 was us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stamford Fort
Stamford Fort is a 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the landward approaches to the east of Plymouth, as an element of the plan for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. It is 165 feet above sea level, between Jennycliffe Bay and Hooe Lake. Designed by Captain (later Maj General) Edmund Frederick Du Cane, it was built by George Roach and Company, who also built Staddon Fort. It was built as a five sided polygonal fort, surrounded by a dry ditch. Three sides face landward, one seaward, whilst the rear faces the Cattewater. The ditch was defended with three caponiers and a counter-scarp gallery. The fort was connected by a military road to the nearby Staddon Fort. To house the fort's garrison a barrack block for 200 men was built within the rear section of the fort, arranged in 13 c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staddon Fort
Staddon Fort is a 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the landward approaches to the east of Plymouth, as an element of the plan for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. Designed by Captain (later Maj General) Edmund Frederick Du Cane, it was built by George Roach and Company. The fort was connected by a military road to the nearby Stamford Fort, Watch House Battery and Brownhill Battery. It was designed to be armed with 34 guns and 6 mortars. To house the fort's garrison a barrack block for 250 men was built within the rear section of the fort. By the early 1900s the fort had become obsolete as a defensive position and was disarmed. It remains in use by the Royal Navy as a communications centre. Along with a number of other parts of the Staddon Heights defences, it became a sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Scraesdon
Scraesdon Fort, near the village of Antony, is one of several forts in South East Cornwall which formed part of the ring of forts surrounding Plymouth to protect Plymouth Sound and, in particular, the naval dockyard of Devonport from enemy naval attack. They were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases in the south of England. Scraesdon Fort was designed in 1859 by Captain (later Maj General) William Crossman, and was built by F Roach and Company, Plymouth. It was completed at a cost of £137,000. It is constructed in the Land Front, polygonal, near octagonal format. It has a dry ditch, and was designed to have twenty-seven 7-inch breech-loading guns on the ramparts. By 1893 it mounted one 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading Guns, eight 7-inch Rifled Breech Loading (RBL) gun, two 32 Pounder Smooth Bore Breech Loading (SBBL) guns and two 5-inch Breech Loading guns. The upper level is 254 ft above ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raleigh Battery
Raleigh Battery is a former coastal artillery battery, built to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. The battery was constructed between March 1890 and August 1894 at a cost of £4,963. It was located between Hawkins Battery and due-east of Maker Farm, on sloping land facing the sea. The battery was positioned to prevent ships lying at anchor off Cawsand Bay and to support Picklecombe Fort guarding the approaches to Plymouth Sound. It mounted two 10-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns, one on an Elswick Ordnance Company barbette mounting, the other on a Royal Carriage Department barbette mounting. The gun positions were served by underground magazines which were linked by a tunnel that slopes down underneath a central earth traverse. There was one magazine to the north of the tunnel and two cartridge stores (each with its own serving hatch) to the south. Each gun emplacement had a store, cartridge recess, a shell recess and a shelter for the gun crew, all built into the con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polhawn Battery
Whitsand Bay, situated in south east Cornwall, England, runs from Rame Head in the east to Portwrinkle in the west. It is characterised by sheer, high cliffs, dramatic scenery and long stretches of sandy beaches. The South West Coast Path runs the length of the bay. Geography The bay is overlooked by Rame Head, a conical hill with the ruins of a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St Michael on top. Polhawn Cove is a rough beach, consisting of sharp rocks, shingle and an area of open sand. West of Captain Blake's Point, long stretches of sand are interspersed with rocky headlands and small bays, many inaccessible at high tide. The holiday settlements of Freathy and Tregonhawke are built on terraces on the cliff faces. A National Trust property at Sharrow Point preserves a small cave excavated by hand in 1874 by a hermit called Lugger, who inscribed verses on the ceiling to relieve his boredom. Lugger's Cave is fenced off to the public. The headland forms part of ''Rame Head & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plymouth Breakwater
Plymouth Breakwater is a stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages near Plymouth, Devon, England. It is wide at the top and the base is . It lies in about of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construction in 1812 at the then-colossal cost of £1.5 million (equivalent to £ today). History In 1806, as the Napoleonic Wars impended, Lord St. Vincent commissioned John Rennie and Joseph Whidbey to plan a means of making Plymouth Bay a safe anchorage for the Channel Fleet. These plans may have been taken from ones made by George Matcham (1753 – 3 February 1833). In 1811 came the order to begin construction; Whidbey was appointed Acting Superintending Engineer. This task required great engineering, organizational and political skills, as the many strictly technical challenges were complicated by the significant resources devoted to the project, from which various parties evidenced a desire for advantage. Nearly 4,000,000 (four million) ton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picklecombe Fort
Fort Picklecombe stands on the extreme south eastern coast of Cornwall, a couple of miles west of the city of Plymouth. The fort has been a residential complex since the early 1970s but has a history dating back 150 years. Founding Fort Picklecombe was commissioned in the mid 19th century by Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary and then Prime Minister under Queen Victoria. Being an island, Great Britain was at risk from large scale enemy invasion by sea, particularly from France. Palmerston ordered a series of coastal forts and batteries to be built in this area to defend the large naval base at Devonport in Plymouth. The coastal entrance to Plymouth is known as Plymouth Sound, and was to be defended by Fort Picklecombe to the west, Fort Bovisand to the east, and a smaller fort on the Plymouth Sound breakwater. Fort Picklecombe itself would be defended from attack from the rear by a series of smaller forts and batteries positioned on or near the Rame peninsula. Fort Picklecombe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
