Beacon Hill Battery (also known as Beacon Hill Fort) is a late-19th and 20th century coastal fortification that was built to defend the port of Harwich,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. It is a scheduled

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The ''Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ...

Prior military use of the site

Beacon Hill is a promontory on the Harwich peninsula, about one kilometre south of the town. It overlooks the estuaries of the Stour and

Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

rivers on the approach to the harbour, which has been an important civil and naval port since the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Tudor blockhouse: House-upon-the-Hill

The first fortification built on the site was one of three blockhouses, constructed at Harwich during the reign of Henry VIII, following his visit to the town in 1543. These were

Device Forts The Device Forts, also known as Henrician castles and blockhouses, were a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the coast of England and Wales by Henry VIII. Traditionally, the Crown had left coastal defences in the hands of local ...

, built at Tower House, Middle House and the House-upon-the-Hill. They were abandoned within ten years, only to be briefly revived in 1588, owing to the threat posed by the Spanish Armada. By 1625 the site had again fallen into disrepair and Harwich was considered to be defenceless. The site of the actual blockhouse was destroyed by erosion.

Napoleonic Wars

A nearby site was chosen for Harwich Barracks. These were built in 1803. The original occupants were the West Essex Regiment and the Royal Buckinghamshire Militia. On the promontory itself, an earthen artillery battery of five 24-pounder guns was constructed in 1812, intended to supplement the larger

Harwich Redoubt Harwich Redoubt is a circular fort built in 1808 to defend the port of Harwich, Essex from Napoleonic invasion. The Harwich Society opens it to the public. Construction The Redoubt was built between 1808 and 1810 to protect the port of Har ...

, which had been completed to the north in 1810 and was armed with ten 24-pounders. By 1822, the battery had been lost to erosion, and a replacement planned in 1839 was not built.

Beacon Hill Battery

In 1887, renewed fear of a French invasion prompted the Secretary of State for War,

Edward Stanhope Edward Stanhope PC (24 September 1840 – 21 December 1893) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1887 to 1892. Background and education Born in London, Stanhope was the second son of Philip Sta ...

, to chair a committee on the "Fortifications and Armaments of Military and Mercantile Ports". One of the results of the committee's report was the ordering of a new artillery battery at Beacon Hill in September 1888; work had been completed by May 1892. The battery was built to an innovative design; an artificial mound in the centre of the promontory served to conceal the underground magazines, shelters and ancillary buildings, while creating a natural-looking profile against which, the lighter weapons at the foot of the mound would be difficult to see. The rear of the work was protected by a defensive perimeter built to a new design called the

Twydall Profile The Twydall Profile was a style of fortification used in British and Imperial polygonal forts at the end of the 19th century. The sloping earthworks employed in the Twydall Profile were intended to be quick and inexpensive to construct and to be e ...

, consisting of an earthen rampart, fronted by a glacis sloping down to a shallow ditch that concealed a steel palisade fence. The battery was powerfully armed with a single BL 10-inch gun and a single BL 6-inch gun on a hydro-pneumatic disappearing mountings, together with two QF 4.7-inch guns. In 1894, a former practice battery sited near the tip of the headland and dating from 1871 was rebuilt to mount four RML 64-pounder guns on traversing carriages for close defence. Two

QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. T ...

guns were added in 1898. By the turn of the 20th century, concern had shifted from France to Germany, and the battery's armament was the subject of several upgrades. In 1898, a

depression range finder The depression range finder (DRF) was a fire control device used to observe the target's range and bearing to calculate firing solutions when gun laying in coastal artillery. It was the main component of a vertical base rangefinding system. ...

and telephone system were installed. In 1901, a further BL 6-inch gun was added to the north of the battery. In 1903, the original guns were replaced with three of the latest BL 6-inch Mk VII guns, but retaining the two old 4.7-inch guns. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Harwich was an important destroyer base; improvements to the battery included two

QF 1-pounder pom-pom The QF 1 pounder, universally known as the pom-pom due to the sound of its discharge, was a 37 mm British autocannon, the first of its type in the world. It was used by several countries initially as an infantry gun and later as a light a ...

ant-aircraft guns. The fort remained operational in the

inter-war period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, although the 4.7-inch guns were finally retired. Plans to modernise the battery had not been started before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1940, a new emplacement, known as "

Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

Battery" was constructed for two rapid-firing

QF 6-pounder 10 cwt gun The British QF (quick-firing) 6-pounder 10 cwt gun"6 pounder" refers to the approximate weight of projectiles, which was a traditional British way of denoting small guns. "10 cwt" referred to the approximate weight of the gun and breech in cwt (h ...

s on a twin-barrelled mounting, intended to counter fast attack craft, which also included a new magazine, shelters and a prominent three-storey battery observation post (BOP). The 6-inch guns were partially enclosed by concrete casemates to protect the crews from air attack and an experimental range-finding

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

was installed in a new hexagonal tower. Ground defences were improved by the addition of

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

es, trenches and searchlight emplacements. Overlooking the breakwater, a concrete blockhouse housed an Extended Defence Officer (EXDO) post, from where naval officers could electrically detonate

sea mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

s in the estuary.

Decommissioning and subsequent restoration

The fort was finally decommissioned in 1956 on the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom. In early 2018, part of Beacon Hill Battery was bought by Paul Valentine and Barry Sharp as part of a restoration project. More information on the project and opening times can be found via the Beacon Hill Fort website.

References

{{reflist * National Archive files WO 166/1718---515 Coast Defence War Diary; WO 166 series Eastern Command, 11 Corps, 15 Division, Essex Division, 45 Division, 223 Brigade, War Diaries; ADM 199/823—Minelaying/Minefields). * National Archives WO 30/67 and 100—Defences of Eastern District, maps of proposed Martello Tower sites in MMH1 series; sketches of Harwich by Captain Durant at Hampshire Cultural Trust Peter Kent's "Fortifications of East Anglia".

External links

Victorian Forts and Artillery datasheet

Subterranea Britannica description

Photos
photos Device Forts Forts in Essex Palmerston Forts Napoleonic beacons in England Harwich Artillery batteries 1534 establishments in England