DEVILS POINT ARTILLERY TOWER

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DESCRIPTION

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The remains of Devils Point Artillery Tower, a blockhouse probably built between 1537-9 as part of Henry VIII's coastal defences. It was built by the Edgcumbe family to protect their harbour and with its commanding views of the entrance to the river Tamar it became part of a series of coastal defences to defend the strategic town of Plymouth. It was used intermittently from its establishment and may have had a machine gun post positioned there in 1902 to protect the harbour boom.

The single-storey octagonal tower is built of rubble with granite dressings and had a vaulted roof which was originally surrounded by a parapet. It had a number of gun-ports on the seaward sides and an entrance on the landward.

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DETAIL

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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

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(SX 45965333) Castle (NAT). (1)

Devil's Point Artillery Tower, is part of a system of coastal defence dating from the time of Henry VIII 1537-9. Not listed but recommended for scheduling. (2)

It has 3 gunports on the seawards side and 3 on the landward side. (3)

Listed Grade II. Blockhouse. Probably 1509-1539. Rubble with granite dressings. Irregular (stretched) octagonal plan with doorway to landward side and gunports to seaward side (the longer sides). Chamfered granite doorway spanned by shallow 2-centred arch; pair of square gunports with rebates for shutters. INTERIOR: not inspected. (4)

Heptagonal plan with 5 embrasures. It was probably built in the late 15th or early 16th century by the Edgcumbe family to protect their harbour. It is depicted in 1540 as a square single-storey blockhouse and was probably used intermittently for defence in later periods, and was probably used to mount a machine gun post covering the boom in 1902. (5)

Blockhouse with a single chamber with vaulted roof. It is octagonal in shape and one storey high. The roof was originally surrounded by a parapet. The original doorway has survived and there are rectangular openings on the seaward side. There are grooves for shutters on the gun openings. (6)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 25" 1895

( 2) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Plymouth Devon 1975 Page(s)173

(3) Fortress Study Group Fort : the international journal of fortification and military architecture

4, 1977 Page(s)84

(4) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

City of Plymouth, 09-Nov-1998

(5) Andrew Pye and Freddy Woodward 1996 The historic defences of Plymouth

Page(s)113-4

(6) Scheduled Monument Notification

09-NOV-1998

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