While visiting my girlfriends family on the Isle of Wight at the weekend Pinky told me that they had uncovered the Yaverland Battery so a visit had to be done. We went on Saturday night to have a nose and after a torch lit tour we decided to return during the day to take some shots.
Visited with Pinky, Dowse & Grabs. Cheers for the tour Pinky
Like many Palmerston Forts, Yaverland Battery appeared to be heading for obscurity through gradual destruction and neglect. The remains had already become barely visible under its developing holiday facilities. It is therefore a pleasant surprise to discover the new owner of Sandown Bay Holiday Centre has started on plans to excavate the site and bring the remaining sections back into full view.
History:
Completed in 1864, Yaverland Battery was one of numerous forts established around the Channel coast in the face of an anticipated French landing that never materialised, under the controversial direction of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. Over the years the Yaverland fortification was subject to a number of adaptations and was still in use in the early 1950s as a training centre. It was finally sold off in 1956 and, like some other coastal forts, became an ideal spot for a holiday centre.
As the holiday facilities developed, parts of the fort were increasingly flattened with the remaining sections left to become heavily overgrown. The new owner acquired the site last summer and decided the remains should not only be preserved but recovered to form an integral part of a redesigned holiday centre.
Much of the surrounding Carnot wall has long since gone but most of the long seaward section remains, together with its two musketry Caponiers. The ditch fronting this has now been completely excavated, bringing the section back to its original state. The fort's main gun emplacements still survive and these will be cleared to form a feature of the revised holiday facilities. A few other structures remain, including a pump house and the original winch room, complete with the winch that controlled a horizontal sliding drawbridge. It is planned to incorporate a small museum covering the history of the battery.
Visited with Pinky, Dowse & Grabs. Cheers for the tour Pinky
Like many Palmerston Forts, Yaverland Battery appeared to be heading for obscurity through gradual destruction and neglect. The remains had already become barely visible under its developing holiday facilities. It is therefore a pleasant surprise to discover the new owner of Sandown Bay Holiday Centre has started on plans to excavate the site and bring the remaining sections back into full view.
History:
Completed in 1864, Yaverland Battery was one of numerous forts established around the Channel coast in the face of an anticipated French landing that never materialised, under the controversial direction of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. Over the years the Yaverland fortification was subject to a number of adaptations and was still in use in the early 1950s as a training centre. It was finally sold off in 1956 and, like some other coastal forts, became an ideal spot for a holiday centre.
As the holiday facilities developed, parts of the fort were increasingly flattened with the remaining sections left to become heavily overgrown. The new owner acquired the site last summer and decided the remains should not only be preserved but recovered to form an integral part of a redesigned holiday centre.
Much of the surrounding Carnot wall has long since gone but most of the long seaward section remains, together with its two musketry Caponiers. The ditch fronting this has now been completely excavated, bringing the section back to its original state. The fort's main gun emplacements still survive and these will be cleared to form a feature of the revised holiday facilities. A few other structures remain, including a pump house and the original winch room, complete with the winch that controlled a horizontal sliding drawbridge. It is planned to incorporate a small museum covering the history of the battery.
Last edited by a moderator:
we never got round to posting each time we went up they had done a bit and a bit more and never got a chance to take some now its all been cleared so you saved us a job lol Nice one bud good to see everyone again. Got some more things to show you soon TOP SECRET though 
