Monument MPM1860 - East & West Battery, Southsea Castle

Artillery batteries to the east and west of Southsea Castle constructed during the early-1860s. The batteries were landscaped during the 1960s after the site was acquired by Portsmouth Corporation, and some associated structures, including magazines and barrack rooms built within the ramparts, were demolished.

The East and West Batteries to Southsea Castle were constructed between 1863 and 1868, although they continued to be revised and upgraded until they were decommissioned in the 1950s [1]. The batteries were part of a larger scheme of the refortification of Portsmouth which included the building of a ring fortress of forts along Portsdown Hill and the sea forts in the Solent. At the same time the entire Southsea Castle complex, including the two batteries and 17 acres of land, were enclosed by a high brick loopholed gorge wall. A section of this wall survives in the D-Day Museum car park (see MPM936) [2].

A plan dated 1869 shows magazines and stores located within and to the rear of the ramparts. The configuration of guns was changed a number of times during the late-19th and 20th century. [1]

Between 1899 and 1901 the East Battery was completely revised with a standard arrangement of guns to defend against battleships and to counter attack vessels trying to block the harbour. Magazines were situated beneath the gun emplacements, and ammunition lifts raised the shells to the platforms. War shelters for the gun crew, an armament office, Maxim gun store and accumulator room providing power were located to the rear of the emplacements. [1]

The West Battery was also upgraded with three 12pdr Q.F. guns, each of which had an ammunition magazine and a small shelter to the rear. A 4.7-inch Q.F. gun was installed in 1900 (which also had a magazine, ammunition lift and war shelter) and a Depression Range Finder pedestal for the sub-group Battery Commander. [1]

Prior to the First World War the guns were used for artillery practice by R.G.A. (Royal Garrison Artillery) companies and the local Hampshire R.G.A. Territorial Force which held an annual camp and practice at the site [2]. The armament included anti-aircraft defences during the First World War [1], when the batteries were manned by regular companies of the R.G.A. based at Clarence Barracks and No. 4 Company (Portsmouth) Hampshire R.G.A. Territorials, with the Castle used as Battery H.Q. [2]. The Hampshire R.G.A Volunteers took over when the territorials were moved elsewhere [1].

The Castle was garrisoned by the Hampshire Heavy Regiment R.A. (T.A.) during the Second World War when it was H.Q. Portsmouth Fixed Defences. [2]. After the war the Castle became the Saluting Base for the Solent Garrison and four 25-pounders were mounted on the West Battery [2]. The Coast Artillery Maintenance Battery remained at the castle until it was abolished in 1956 [1]. The guns were fired for the last time on the 12th May 1958, when they welcomed the return of the Queen Mother from a trip to Northern Ireland on H.M.S. Britannia. [2]

The entire Southsea Castle site was purchased by the Portsmouth Corporation in 1961 and most of the gun positons were destroyed or filled in when the area was landscaped [1]. The work involved the demolition of a number of structures associated with the ramparts, including magazines, stores and shelters. These structures are marked on 19th century plans and are visible projecting from the batteries on post-war aerial photographs and Ordnance Survey maps. A photograph in the Portsmouth Museum Service collection (2009/314) shows a partly demolished magazine in the embankment of what is probably the East Battery [3]. The concrete aprons to 6 inch and 9 inch B.L. guns survive, although the gun emplacements have been landscaped. One 9 inch R.M.L. barbette position survives to the west of the castle keep, and Q.F. positions are still recognisable on the West Battery. It is possible that the Victorian magazines were only blocked and covered over and may still survive beneath the grass. [1]

Each battery had a main magazine which projected north to the rear of the ramparts. The structures were approximately 23m square. An Imperial War Museum photograph shows the main magazine to the West Battery as being brick built with doors and windows on the north facing side at ground level, and steep banked sides. The roof and sides of the building were covered with earth/grass. The main shell store can also be seen in the photograph. [4] This was located to the west of the magazine and was a brick building also in the embankment. The Ordnance Survey maps and aerial photographs suggest this was approximately 31m x 8m.

Ordnance Survey, 1932, Ordnance Survey Map 1932 (Map). SPM354.

Ordnance Survey, 1945-1948, Ordnance Survey Air Photo Mosaics of Portsmouth (Photograph). SPM480.

Ordnance Survey, 1952, Ordnance Survey Map 1952 (Map). SPM67.

<1> Moore, David, 2013, Solent Papers No 12: Portsmouth Lines and Southsea Defences (Bibliographic reference). SPM497.

<2> Corney, A, 1967, Southsea Castle (Bibliographic reference). SPM390.

<3> Portsmouth Evening News, 1960s, Photograph showing a partly-demolished barracks room in the embankment to the side of Southsea Castle (Photograph). SPM487.

<4> n.d, Southsea Castle? (Photograph). SPM482.