Historic England research records

Historic England Research Records

Grain Battery
Hob Uid: 1187472
Location : Medway Isle of Grain
Grid Ref : TQ8898176401
Summary : Grain Battery was built to defend ports along the the River Medway. It was constructed in 1900 and armed with four 6-inch breech-loading Mk. VII guns. The battery was active during the First World War although one of the guns had been removed by 1914. Grain Battery was decommissioned in 1935. In the 1960s the emplacements were infilled and the magazines blocked.The earthwork and structural remains of the battery were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. Aerial photographs of the site taken in 1942 show the entire battery surrounded by barbed wire, with a second line reinforcing the battery on the seaward side. This barbed wire formed only a small part of the network of barbed wire obstruction extending across and between the earlier forts and batteries along this part of the coast of the Isle of Grain.
More information : TQ 889 764 Earthen battery built in 1901 and armed with four 6-inch BL guns, with magazines and troop shelters below and a battery observation post behind. By 1918 one of the guns had been replaced by an anti-aircraft gun, and the remaining guns were removed between 1921 and 1935, after which the battery fell out of use. The buildings were removed, the emplacements filled in and made safe after 1961. Today the battery survives as a simple earthen bank with a ditch on the seaward side, and traces of concrete mark the gun positions. Grain Battery was surveyed by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England between March and April 1998, following a request by Kent County Council and as part of a European project looking at similar sites in Kent, Nord-Pas de Calais and West Flanders. See archive report and plans. (1-2) Grain Battery located at TQ 890 763. It was opened in 1900 and by December 1902 was equipped with four 6-inch breech-loading Mk. VII guns. By the First World War one of the guns had been removed and it is referenced as being armed up until 1927. (7-8) Aerial photography from 1975 shows that the emplacements had been filled in and the area was in an overgrown and poor condition. The area to the rear of the emplacements has been substantially altered. (9) The earthwork and structural remains of the battery described by the previous authorities were seen at TQ8897 7641 and were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. Aerial photographs of the site taken in 1942 show the entire battery surrounded by barbed wire, with a second line reinforcing the battery on the seaward side. This barbed wire formed part of the extensive network of barbed wire obstruction extending across and between the earlier forts and batteries along this part of the coast of the Isle of Grain. (10)

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Source Number : 1
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Source details : RCHME: Coastal Artillery Fortifications at Grain Survey
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Source details : MacDougall, P 1980 The Isle of Grain Defences (The Kent Defence Research Group)
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Source details : Gazetteer Part 1: KD92
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Source Number : 7
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Source Number : 9
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Source Number : 10
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Source details : NMR RAF/26/UK 920 32 23-MAR-1942
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Monument Types:

Monument Period Name : Early 20th Century
Display Date : 1900
Monument End Date : 1900
Monument Start Date : 1900
Monument Type : Coastal Battery, Gun Emplacement
Evidence : Documentary Evidence, Earthwork

Monument Period Name : First World War
Display Date : First World War
Monument End Date : 1918
Monument Start Date : 1914
Monument Type : Coastal Battery, Gun Emplacement
Evidence : Documentary Evidence

Monument Period Name : Second World War
Display Date : Second World War
Monument End Date : 1945
Monument Start Date : 1939
Monument Type : Barbed Wire Obstruction
Evidence : Demolished Structure

Components and Objects:

Related Records from other datasets:

External Cross Reference Source : DoB Anti Invasion Database UID
External Cross Reference Number : S0015147
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : DoB Anti Invasion Database UID
External Cross Reference Number : S0015148
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : SMR Number (Kent)
External Cross Reference Number : TQ87NE1026
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : SMR Number (Kent)
External Cross Reference Number : TQ87NE1085
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : TQ 87 NE 115
External Cross Reference Notes :

Related Warden Records :

Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association

Related Activities :

Associated Activities :
Activity type : MEASURED SURVEY
Start Date : 1998-03-01
End Date : 1999-03-01

Associated Activities :
Activity type : MEASURED SURVEY
Start Date : 2008-01-01
End Date : 2009-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH INTERPRETATION
Start Date : 2010-09-01
End Date : 2012-03-01

Historic England Research Records

Grain Battery