| Summary : A 17th century artillery tower, and a Civil War breastwork as well as sundry World War II remains. Grenville's map of the fortifications on Mount Batten in 1586-8 showed a new bulwark and 3 artillery pieces, the latter facing west and south-west, but no surface remains are identifiable. In the 17th century an artillery tower of three storeys was built on the headland of Mount Battern perhaps between 1645-60 as part of the defences of Plymouth Sound. It is a circular stone tower 9.1 metres high, 14 metres in diameter, and with walls approximately 1 metre thick; it has a castellated parapet with embrasures for ten guns. A Civil War earthwork was noted close to the tower in 1882; this earthwork is thought to date from the siege of Plymouth from 1643-45 and may be part of a Parliamentarian retreat-work shown on a contemporary Royalist map. It survives as a slight bank and ditch on the south western side of the seaward slope of the headland. During World War II the need for effective air and coastal defence saw the area of Mount Battern given over to both air and sea defence structures. These structures include the remains of two Light Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements and a signal identification panel on the area of the plateau south west of the artillery tower, and two L-shaped anti-submarine searchlight batteries of brick and shuttered concrete construction which survive intact minus their searchlights; they lie just above the high water mark of medium tides on the south west rock bench of the headland. The artillery tower is both Scheduled and Listed Grade II whilst the remainder of the monuments on the headland are Scheduled. |
More information : (SX 48645324) Mount Batten Castle (Lookout) (NAT). (1)
Mount Batten tower is a squat circular stone tower built about
1665, of three storeys with a castellated parapet. It was part
of the defences of Plymouth sound and allegedly named after
Captain Batten who was Govenor of Plymouth during the Civil
War. Grade 2. (2)
SX 486532 Mount Batten Tower is a building of outstanding
importance. It has a gun platform on top. (3)
The Royal Commission Report of 1860 shows that Mount Batten Tower was not then part of the proposed defences of Plymouth. (4)
Faint traces of earthworks built in defence of Plymouth in the
Civil War could be seen in 1882 close to Mount Batten Tower. (5)
Listed and Scheduled. (6,7)
There are several works dating from the 1586 invasion scare on Mount Batten, the most prominent of which is the artillery tower.
1586-8: a bulwark and three artllery pieces faing west and south-west, are shown on Grenville's Map.
During the Civil War, the Parliamentarians built a linear work across the headland facing south-east to retreat into should they lose Fort Stamford on the hill above. When the Royalists captured the fort, they also took the headland, and may have created three batteries on the headland to fire at shipping in the Cattewater and on Drake's Island. By June 1644 the Royalists had abandoned the headland and in august 1644 the Parliamentarians constructed a work on Hoo Stert Point commanded by William Batten.
Mount Batten Tower was built between 1645-60 as a gun platform to co-operate with the guns on the Lower Fort, and as a means of fortifying the headland.
In 1668, de Gomme planed an earthwork battery with embrasures for 9 guns on the shore to the west of the tower, and in 1716 Colonel Lilly noted a battery being thrown up under old tower, which may have been the same battery. This appears to have been slightly to the north of the WWII searchlight battery. Now demolished.
In World War II, two 12-poundre QF guns were taken from Drake's Island to Mount batten and sited behind the searchlight battery on the SW shore. The site is overgrown. (8) |