Monument record MDO6569 - High Angle Battery, Verne Common

The Verne Quarry High Angle Battery was constructed in 1892 as part of the coastal defences at Portland. The battery was used for storage of field guns during the First World War and as an anti-aircraft battery and ammunition store during the Second World War.

Verne Quarry High Angle Battery, disused battery approximately 150 metres south-south-east of the south entrance to the Verne Citadel. The high angle battery was built in 1892 as part of the coastal defences at Portland, it was built partly in an old quarry and was armed with four guns capable of firing in any direction. The battery included two magazines and would have been surrounded by an unclimbable fence. Four new gun pits and a war shelter, for protecting the troups, were added when the battery was remodelled in 1898. The battery was disarmed in 1906 and from 1918 was used for storing field guns from France. During the Second World War it became an ack-ack battery and was used to store ammunition in preparation for the D-Day landings. In the 1960s one of the emplacements was used for testing the capsules in which nuclear material was transported. The battery was restored by a Manpower Services Commission team in 1984-5. The battery is built of Portland stone, concrete and brick, the tunnels are roofed with earth and grass. <2>

Verne Quarry Battery located at SY 695 733. The battery was completed in 1888 for six 9-inch rifle muzzle-loading guns on high-angle mountings. The battery was disarmed in 1907. <3-4>

The High Angle Battery is visible as an upstanding structure on aerial photographs of the 1940s and recent aerial imagery <6-8>. This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

Hunt, A, and Papworth, M, 1984, Survey of High Angle Battery, Verne Common, Portland, Dorset (Article in serial). SWX7498.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 126 (Serial). SDO84.

'HIGH ANGLE BATTERY, VERNE COMMON, PORTLAND. A survey of the late 19th-century High Angle Battery (SY 694732) was carried out for HBMC by Martin Papworth in April-July 1984 in advance of conservation works. These works, carried out by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, were necessary as the Battery was in a dilapidated state, vandalism having compounded the impact of erosion. The main proposals included clearance of loose debris, consolidation of gallery walls and reinstatement of buildings. The survey archive is deposited at Dorset County Museum.'

<2> DOE (HRR), 22 Dec 1997, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Borough of Weymouth and Portland amendment 1997 (Scheduling record). SWX1946.

<3> Dobinson, C S, 2000, Twentieth century fortifications in England. Volume 6.1. Coast Artillery, 1900-1956, 176-181 (Monograph). SDO17228.

<4> Dobinson, C S, 2000, Twentieth century fortifications in England. Volume 6.2. Coast artillery, 1900-1956, 272 (Monograph). SDO17229.

<5> Cox, J, Evans, D, Bedford, P, and Ellis, C, Verne Quarry, High Angle Battery, Portland, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14462.

<6> Crawford, O G S, 07-08-1923, SY 6874/1 CCC 8612/811 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13124.

<7> Royal Air Force, 08-NOV-1949, RAF 541/385 3004-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13045.

<8> XX-XXX-2009, Google Earth (Aerial Photograph). SDO12705.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1387753 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 29 2024 3:08PM