The Verne High Angle Battery is a former 19th-century gun battery 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 ...

. Situated close to 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 ...

, the battery is Grade II Listed, and forms part of the citadel's scheduled monument status. The battery has become a tourist attraction, while the battery's tunnels are often referred to by their local name 'Ghost Tunnels'.

History

Verne High Angle Battery Portland Dorset Tunnel Inside

The battery was built in 1892 to protect

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 ...

. Having been constructed within a disused quarry, the battery's guns were hidden from enemy's view. The "high angle" that the

RML 9 inch 12 ton gun The RML 9-inch guns Mark I – Mark VIMark I – Mark VI = Mark 1 through to Mark 6. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this article describes the six models of RML 9-inch guns. were lar ...

s fired at ensured shells dropped down to inflict maximum damage on the vulnerable upper decks of an enemy vessel. The guns were able to traverse through 360 degrees. The battery had positions were built for six guns. Two additional pits were soon added, but no guns were fitted. Shells were stored in two tunnel magazines, while between these was a troop shelter, laboratory and store buildings. With the invention of smaller craft like

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s, the guns were less likely to score a hit, resulting in the battery's decommissioning in 1906. From 1918, the battery was used for storing field guns from France and in the 1960s one of the emplacements was used for testing the capsules in which nuclear material was transported.

References

External links

Dorset's Coastal Defences. High Angle: first and second stageVictorian Forts data sheet
{{Isle of Portland Infrastructure completed in 1892 Forts in Dorset Buildings and structures in Dorset 19th-century forts in England Isle of Portland Palmerston Forts Coastal artillery Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Artillery batteries