Browndown Battery
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Browndown Battery, also referred to erroneously in some sources as Browndown Fort, is a former military coastal defence fortification and base on the Southern shoreline of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in the county of
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
. First erected in the mid-1840s, the battery was continuously modified until disarmed in 1905/6. It has been a Grade II
Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
since 1983.


The first Browndown Batteries

The first batteries at Browndown were erected on the shore at Browndown Point to the west end of Stokes Bay at Gosport to defend the western approach to Portsmouth harbour and to prevent an enemy landing on the beach. These batteries were known as Browndown Battery East and Browndown Battery West. They were complete by 1852 but were heavily criticised by James Fergusson (who was later to become the Treasury Representative on the 1860 Royal Commission into the defences of the United Kingdom) in his papers The Peril of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Protected. According to an armament list of 1860 Browndown Battery East had positions for three 68pr of 112 cwt. and seven 8-inch smooth bore guns of 65 cwt. whilst Browndown Battery West had positions for three 68pr. and eight 8-inch smooth bore guns. Ordnance Survey maps indicate the eastern battery had fallen in disuse by 1870 whilst the western one was retained until it was replaced by a new battery as part of the western defences of Portsmouth Harbour.


The new Browndown Battery

In 1890 The Defence Committee reviewed a proposal to remove or remodel the two old Browndown Batteries in Stokes Bay, and recommended that ''the Eastern Battery, being superseded by the work at the western extremity of the Stokes Bay Lines, and interfering with the fire of that work, should be removed; that the western battery should be retained, as it is of value to flank the beach, but that its present armament may be removed.'' Although the completion of the Stokes Bay Lines in 1860 had rendered the Browndown Batteries obsolete, there was a need for a battery to protect the deep water anchorage off Browndown Point and the new Browndown Battery was constructed for two 12.5-inch R.M.L. guns on the site of the old Browndown battery West, paid for under the Imperial Defence Loan of 1888 at a cost of £4,237. Building commenced in October 1888 and was completed in August 1889. The rear wall (or gorge) of the old battery was retained and two sea facing concrete emplacements were constructed for the new 12.5-inch R.M.L. guns on C pivot dwarf traversing platforms. The magazines for shells and cartridges were placed between the two emplacements. A side arm and artillery store was built to the right of the battery.


The last Browndown Battery

In 1890 it was proposed to update the armament of the Stokes Bay defences by adding two 6-inch and two 9.2-inch B.L. guns at either end of the Bay. These guns formed the standard coast defence artillery of this period and always operated in pairs of complementary guns to counter armoured and unarmoured ships (blockers).
Fort Gilkicker Fort Gilkicker is a historic Palmerston fort built at the eastern end of Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hampshire England to dominate the key anchorage of Spithead. It was erected between 1863 and 1871 as a semi-circular arc with 22 casemates, to be ...
was remodeled for two 6 inch and two 9.2-inch B.L. guns at the east end of the bay whilst Stokes Bay Lines No.2 Battery was remodeled to hold the western two 6-inch B.L. guns. Its complementary guns, two 9.2-inch B.L. guns were to be fitted to Browndown Battery. The new battery had the usual shell and cartridge store between the two gun emplacements which were extended and enlarged from the old R.M.L.magazines. To the west of the magazines a cookhouse was added. Two crew shelters were also added in the extension. A Battery Command Post and telephone room were constructed above the Artillery Store at the west end. This communicated with the Battery Command post on No.2 Battery of the Stokes Bay Lines and with those at
Fort Gilkicker Fort Gilkicker is a historic Palmerston fort built at the eastern end of Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hampshire England to dominate the key anchorage of Spithead. It was erected between 1863 and 1871 as a semi-circular arc with 22 casemates, to be ...
. The new battery received its armament of two 9.2-inch B.L. Mark 10 guns on Barbette 5 mountings by 1904 but was declared superfluous by the Owen Committee in 1905. ''The guns mounted at Browndown and Gilkicker only cover an area accessible to vessels which have forced the outer defences, to do which such vessels would certainly have to be prepared to suffer the damage which the naval opinion, already quoted, considers sufficient to deter the attempt. The Committee, therefore consider these works as superfluous and the modern conditions laid down for their guidance.'' This was the death knell for the battery. It was disarmed in 1906


Later use

The battery was retained by the army as part of the Browndown Training facility and Browndown Ranges. It saw a brief new lease of life when a lookout post was constructed on top of the east gun position as part of the training area used by the combined services hovercraft unit. According to the military authorities Browndown Battery is ''a listed building and because of its location inside a military training area, it is in excellent condition. though modified and strengthened many times during its history much of the original building is still identifiable.''


Browndown Camp

Browndown Camp at the site was a barracks facility with an attached assault course and a 25-metre small arms firing range. The fort itself was utilized in some defensive tactical training, but was too small for use in OBUA (Operations in Built Up Areas) exercises. The Camp was used by
Her Majesty's Naval Service His Majesty's Naval Service is the United Kingdom's naval warfare and maritime service. It consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and Naval Careers Service. The term Naval Ser ...
's Royal Marines' Small Arms Corps from 1922 to 1959; the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
's South East District command as a Minor Training Facility in 1961, and by 121 Weekend Training Centre up to the mid-1970s. Subsequently, its facilities were used by the ACF, CCF, ATC and the Territorial Army. In 2002 it was used as the setting for the historical reality series ''
Lads' Army ''Lads' Army'' (known in later series as ''Bad Lads' Army'', ''Bad Lads' Army: Officer Class'' and ''Bad Lads' Army: Extreme'') is a reality game show that constitutes a historically derived social experiment. Shown on ITV, the series is base ...
'' as a mock 1950's British Army National Service training course, and was utilised again times in 2005 by the series renamed ''
Bad Lads' Army ''Lads' Army'' (known in later series as ''Bad Lads' Army'', ''Bad Lads' Army: Officer Class'' and ''Bad Lads' Army: Extreme'') is a reality game show that constitutes a historically derived social experiment. Shown on ITV, the series is bas ...
'' as a mock Officer Cadet School. In 2009 the Ministry of Defence concluded in a review of its estates that Browndown Camp was surplus to requirement and it was closed. The site was released and sold to a private contractor for £754,000 in 2012.'The Portsmouth News', 6 August 2012 The beach at the site is still used for military training in Amphibious Warfare given its vicinity to the Marchwood Military Port.


Notes and references


External links


Victorian Forts data sheet


{{Authority control Gosport Forts in Hampshire
Browndown Browndown is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gosport in Hampshire. This is a shingle beach owned by the Ministry of Defence, which has areas of heather, grass heath and gorse. There are a range of invertebrates specialising ...
Grade II listed buildings in Hampshire Artillery batteries