Sandown Barrack Battery
Encyclopedia
Sandown Barrack Battery is a battery
located in Sandown Bay
close to Sandown
on the Isle of Wight
. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts
built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion.
In 1859 the Royal Commission warned that Britain's coastal defences were inadequate to prevent invasion by Napoleon III if the Royal Navy were lured elsewhere. This resulted in a huge wave of building, with land forts on Portsdown above Portsmouth and sea forts around it, a ring of forts round Chatham, and isolated forts at Newhaven and Nothe, Weymouth. By the time they were completed in the 1880's it was clear that the French had not seriously planned to invade, and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 removed the threat, so Prime Minister Palmerston, who pushed hard for their building, was widely criticised, and these forts are often called Palmerston's Follies.
.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Construction of the battery began in April 1861 and was complete by September 1863 at a cost of £62,331. It Stands on the edge of a cliff, 140 feet above the sea and about 1.500 yards to the west of sandown fort, It was first armed with 5 x 7 inch R.B.L Guns on a parapet close to the cliff and it was considered that the sea washing at the base of the cliff would soon cause the parapet to be endangered. These were replaced by five 64pr RMLs by 1880.
In 1891 the main armament of the fort was 2 x 10-inch R.M.L. Guns on long range mountings, fitted to barbette emplacements retired from the cliff edge, with 2 x 64pr. R.M.L. as Support. The ditch of the fort extends around it on the landward side, With a carnot wall and caponiers defending the two flanks, the seaward flanks, the seaward face being protected by the high cliff on which the battery stands. The landward face has a gateway with a drawbridge in the centre, on the left of which was the guardroom, whilst on the right was thew artillery general store. Shells stores were situated in right flank where it joins the gorge with a cartridge store underneath a halfway between the two 10-inch emplacements. Two DRF pedestals were situated within the fort with a position finding cell outside and to the left of the fort.
Between 1891 and 1892 the battery was partially reconstructed to take two 10-inch RML Guns from Sandown fort. These replaced three of the 64pdrs. Further work took place between 1901 and 1902 when the battery was completely remodelled to take two 12pdr QF and two 6-inch BL Mk VII Guns. The 12pdrs were reduced to practise status after 1907 and the 6-inch classed as in reserve three years later. In September 1916 the barrels of all four guns were removed and the mountings and shields in 1926. By the end of the decade the battery had been handed over to local authority as surplus to requirements
The fort is now a flower garden. It is rumoured that the two 10-inch guns are still buried close by.
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
located in Sandown Bay
Sandown Bay
Sandown Bay is a broad bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight's southeastern coast. It extends ten kilometres from Culver Cliff in the northeast to just south of Shanklin in the southwest. The towns of Shanklin and Sandown are located on the bay's coast.The seabed is a...
close to Sandown
Sandown
Sandown is a seaside resort town and civil parish on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, neighbouring the town of Shanklin to the south. Sandown Bay is the name of the bay off the English Channel which both towns share, and it is notable for its long stretch of easily accessible...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts
Palmerston Forts
The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy, and...
built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion.
In 1859 the Royal Commission warned that Britain's coastal defences were inadequate to prevent invasion by Napoleon III if the Royal Navy were lured elsewhere. This resulted in a huge wave of building, with land forts on Portsdown above Portsmouth and sea forts around it, a ring of forts round Chatham, and isolated forts at Newhaven and Nothe, Weymouth. By the time they were completed in the 1880's it was clear that the French had not seriously planned to invade, and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 removed the threat, so Prime Minister Palmerston, who pushed hard for their building, was widely criticised, and these forts are often called Palmerston's Follies.
.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Construction of the battery began in April 1861 and was complete by September 1863 at a cost of £62,331. It Stands on the edge of a cliff, 140 feet above the sea and about 1.500 yards to the west of sandown fort, It was first armed with 5 x 7 inch R.B.L Guns on a parapet close to the cliff and it was considered that the sea washing at the base of the cliff would soon cause the parapet to be endangered. These were replaced by five 64pr RMLs by 1880.
In 1891 the main armament of the fort was 2 x 10-inch R.M.L. Guns on long range mountings, fitted to barbette emplacements retired from the cliff edge, with 2 x 64pr. R.M.L. as Support. The ditch of the fort extends around it on the landward side, With a carnot wall and caponiers defending the two flanks, the seaward flanks, the seaward face being protected by the high cliff on which the battery stands. The landward face has a gateway with a drawbridge in the centre, on the left of which was the guardroom, whilst on the right was thew artillery general store. Shells stores were situated in right flank where it joins the gorge with a cartridge store underneath a halfway between the two 10-inch emplacements. Two DRF pedestals were situated within the fort with a position finding cell outside and to the left of the fort.
Between 1891 and 1892 the battery was partially reconstructed to take two 10-inch RML Guns from Sandown fort. These replaced three of the 64pdrs. Further work took place between 1901 and 1902 when the battery was completely remodelled to take two 12pdr QF and two 6-inch BL Mk VII Guns. The 12pdrs were reduced to practise status after 1907 and the 6-inch classed as in reserve three years later. In September 1916 the barrels of all four guns were removed and the mountings and shields in 1926. By the end of the decade the battery had been handed over to local authority as surplus to requirements
The fort is now a flower garden. It is rumoured that the two 10-inch guns are still buried close by.