The Battery is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

within the city of

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

that sits on the entrance to the harbour, on the slopes of Signal Hill. It is sometimes described as an

outport An outport is any port considered secondary to a main port (including a provincial one as opposed to a capital one), and often (especially) a small port built to support the commercial operations of a large port. The Port of Tilbury from the Port ...

within the city of St. John's and is noted for its steep slopes, and colourful houses. The Battery has been the site, over the centuries, for gun emplacements ( batteries), such as Fort Waldegrave, for the defence of St. John's Harbour, including during both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

Chain Rock

It is home to Chain Rock, a land outcropping to which a large chain was attached connecting to

Fort Amherst Fort Amherst, in Medway, South East England, was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defence to protect the southeastern approaches to Chatham Dockyard and the River Medway against a French invasion. Fort Amherst i ...

, since as early as 1770, to prevent the entry of enemy ships into St John's harbour. Chain Rock is one of two rocks located on opposite sides of

the Narrows The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay (of larger New York Bay) and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Ri ...

, the aptly named entrance to the harbour; Pancake Rock is on the opposite shore. The space between the two rocks is 174 metres.''

Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador ''Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador'' is an encyclopedia commissioned by Joey Smallwood to capture the people, places, events and history of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Smallwood's view on the purpose of the encyclopedia was ...

'', Volume one, page 395, 396 A defensive chain was stretched between the rocks by means of a capstan at nightfall. During World War I and II the chain was replaced with

anti-submarine net An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. Net laying ships would be used to place and remove the nets. The US Navy used anti-submarine nets in the ...

Avalanches & landslides

Minor

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslide ...

have been frequent in the area's past, and a small number of

avalanches An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

; there were three avalanches in the twentieth-century involving loss of life or serious injury, two in February 1921, and one February 1959. A list of major avalanches includes: Although no major events have occurred between 1959 and 2020, in 1995 the city of St. John's began studying the area in an attempt to minimize risk associated with rock slides and avalanches. The Canadian Avalanche Association conducted studies in the area; based on their work, the city spent an estimated $300,000 to protect the area from further instability. Despite this a house was badly damaged by an avalanche in January 2020, following a record snowfall and hurricane force winds.

Notables

* Frank Maher (musician), button accordionist

References

{{coord, display=title, 47, 34, 08.01, N, 52, 41, 25.49, W, region:CA-NL_type:city Neighbourhoods in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador World War II sites in Canada History of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

Chain Rock

Avalanches & landslides

Notables

See also

References