East Weare Battery is a former 19th-century gun battery to the east of the

Verne Citadel Verne Citadel is a 19th-century citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a commanding position overlooking Portland Harbour, which it was built to defend. It later became H ...

on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area 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 ...

. The battery was built in the 1860s as a result of the Royal Commission to guard the new

Portland harbour Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and remai ...

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

institutions on the island. Five open batteries were built housing 20 9" and 10" RMLs. After 1877 the batteries were designated by letter 'A' to 'E'. In 1900 the batteries were re-armed with more modern breech loading guns. 'A' battery received two 9.2 inch Breech Loading (BL) guns and 'B' battery received three BL 6 inch Mk VII guns on Central Pivot Mk II mounts. By 1919 the 6-inch guns had been removed, but the 9.2-inch guns remained in place until the dissolution of Coast Artillery in 1956. The site was then used for training by the Royal Navy, which has damaged some of the gun positions. The batteries are derelict and there is no public access. Parts of the batteries are now listed as Ancient Monuments by Historic England.

References

External links

The Heritage Coast: East Wear

Victorian Forts data sheet
1860s establishments in England Buildings and structures in Dorset Military history of Dorset Forts in Dorset Isle of Portland Palmerston Forts Artillery batteries 19th-century fortifications {{Dorset-struct-stub