More information : SX 461532. Western Kings Battery was built in 1779 and extended in 1807 as part of the Plymouth Defences. It was disarmed and abandoned some time in the 1880's and today only traces remain. (1)
Built to carry nine 68-pounder guns, it ws abandoned in the 1880s as being too low-lying and vulnerable. (2)
The defensive battery at Western king Point began as a redoubt in the American War of Independence, and has been rebuilt twice since then, as Western point A and C Batteries.
A redoubt was built at Western King Point, and was completed in 1779 armed with twelve 18-pounder guns. Dixon's plan of 1780 shows it to have been a trapezoidal structure with 12 embrasures, similar in arrangement to the contemporary redoubts at Mount Pleasant and Mount Wise. It was surrounded by a ditch and glacis with access via a drawbridge to the West. It was modified several times before 1861-2, when it was demolished and replaced by Westen King Battery A. The remains of the redoubt remain as structures buried beneath the later Western King Battery B.
Western King Battery A replaced the redoubt in 1861-2 and consisted of nine new gun emplacements, four on the West flank and five on the East of the old redoubt, the South and East walls of which were retained. Bomb-proof magazines were built to the rear. Few above ground remains are visible due to the construction of Western King Battery B above it, the construction of a car park in the 1970s and the demolition of the gunner's quarters and magazines. However the flanking loopholed walls survive intact. Within the battery, the foundations of the gunner's quarters and the magazines were revealed in 1995.
In 1897-8 the battery was substantially altered, the entire western side being buried under a substantial rampart which extended eastwards on a new alignment in front of the apex of the first redoubt. This new Battery Western King Battery B, was armed with seven 12-pounder quick firing guns in concrete embrasures which covered the channels to each side of Drake's Island. It was the only 7-gun battery in the country and remained in use until the end of World War II.
Finally, and complementing Western King B, a new Western King Battery C was built downslope from B Battery and was armed with two twin 6-pounder quick firing guns. The guns were dismounted in 1956. (3)
No.1 Gun coastal battery. Two main gun emplacements in good condition, complete with anti-strafing roof. Machine houses and magazines attached in reasonable condition. No sign of BOP or CASLs. [information from 1992 aerial photographs].
DES=WESTERN KING WORLD WAR II GUN EMPLACEMENT NOW MAINTAINED AS PUBLIC SHELTER BY PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL. ONE AT ABOVE NGR, THE OTHER AT SX46185334 (BOVEY).
DES=THESE ARE EMPLACEMENTS FOR SIX POUNDER TWIN GUNS, FOR USE ANTI-TORPEDO BOATS AND SUBMARINES. THEY ARE (IN 1988) THE ONLY SURVIVING EXAMPLES OF THEIR TYPE IN THE AREA (WOODWARD).
DES=SITE OF COASTAL BATTERY AT WESTERN KINGS. 2 X TWIN 6PDR GUNS (GUY).
VIS=-/-/1989(GUY). REMAINS (GUY).
VIS=-/02/1991(PYE) WWII TWIN 6-PDR QF EMPLACEMENTS BUILT IN 1941 IN FRONT OF THE
C. 1899 QF BATTERY (SX45SE/257). ORIGINALLY CONSISTED OF GUN EMPLACEMENTS
SURROUNDED BY CANTILEVERED STORAGE AREAS WITH BUILDINGS BUILT INTO THE SLOPE TO THE REAR, INCLUDING AN OBSERVATION TOWER WHICH WAS STILL EXTANT IN 1960S (SEE PSA PLAN). TOWER HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED AND GUN MOUNTINGS CONCRETED OVER. ACCESS STAIRWELLS TO THE BUILDINGS TO THE REAR HAVE BEEN INFILLED AND BLOCKED. FOR THEIR ORIGINAL CHARACTER SEE FORT BOVISAND (CRF:SX45SE/18/1) (PLYMOUTH FORTRESS SURVEY).
VIS=TWO TWIN 6PDR QF GUNS LISTED HERE IN 1946 (WOODWARD, 1990).
KEY=DEFENSIVESITE MODERN XX 23/3/1983
REF=DES=BOVEY (AS ABOVE)
REF=DES=WOODWARD, F./AS ABOVE/TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH FMG(16/12/1988)
REF=DES=GUY,J./ LIST OF COASTAL BATTERIES/ (1990)/ COPY IN SMR
REF=DES=PLYMOUTH FORTRESS SURVEY/ PYE,A./ (1993)/ COPY AND PLAN IN SMR
REF=WOODWARD,F.W./ PLYMOUTHS DEFENCES/ (1990) 39
Devil's Point, Plymouth. (4)
Western King's Redoubt located at SX 462 534. The battery was built between 1897-1898 as an anti-torpedo boat position. By 1902 it was armed with seven 12-pounder quick-firing guns. By 1916 the number of guns had been reduced to four. By the Second World War it had been reduced further to two, however, the battery gained two 6-pounder guns in 1943. The 12-pounder guns were put into care and maintenance status in 1944 and the 6-pounder guns followed in 1945. The 12-pounder guns were manned by 161 Battery of 566 Coast Regiment and the 6-pounder guns by 196 Battery.
No. 1 gun emplacement was located at SX 4616 5330 and No. 2 gun at SX 4619 5333. No. 1 director was positioned at SX 4615 5330 and No. 2 director at SX 4702 5281. (5-6)
Aerial photography from 1992 shows two main emplacements in good condition complete with anti-strafing roof. Machine houses and magzines attached are in reasonable condition. A structure is present at western end of 19th century redoubt. Accommodation was possibly in buildings to the north. No sign of the battery observation post or coast artillery searchlights. (N.B. No. 2 director was for battery located on Drake's Island within the Class 1 battery). (7) |