Monument record TQ 77 SE 1299 - Beacon Hill Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery

From the 2008 Defence of Kent (Medway) Survey
Concrete base of support building.
Owner : Public
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential : none
Condition : Very poor
Date of visit : 15/07/07 (1)

From Pastscape:
"A First World War anti aircraft battery on Beacon Hill, Hoo Common, overlooking the Medway near Upnor. The battery was planned in about 1912 and built by April 1914. Along with a contemporary installation to the north at Lodge Hill ..., this was one of the world's first permanent anti aircraft defences. The site comprised two circular concrete gun emplacements. Two supporting buildings, one situated between the gun emplacements and one to the west, provided barracks and ammunition storage. A war shelter or pillbox was located to the east, while a second war shelter was built to the west on top of an earlier beacon mound. The western war shelter appears to have served as a battery observation post, and was possibly used during the Second World War. It has been recorded separately ... The beacon mound is also recorded separately ..
The battery site was linked to the public road network at Four Elms Hill by a purpose built road which has been recorded separately ... The guns were probably still in use in 1917, but had been removed by 1919. Although the concrete gun bases and buildings are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1944, the battery does not appear to have been reused during the Second World War. The structures belonging to the First World War anti aircraft battery are visible on aerial photographs and have been mapped as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project." (2)

Description from record TQ 77 SE 140:
Top of Beacon Hill Lane. Octagonal concrete observation platform with a complete handrail of galvanised water pipe. In fair condition.

General location of the site of a First World War heavy anti aircraft battery on Beacon Hill, which was armed with two 3-inch 20-hundredweight guns in 1916. (22)

The structures belonging to the First World War anti aircraft battery described in authority 1 are visible on aerial photographs and have been mapped as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. The two gun emplacements and supporting buildings, including ammunition stores and barracks and two war shelters (to east and west), are clearly visible on photographs taken in the 1940s, although the site is now covered in trees. The western war shelter (Monument TQ 77 SE 123) was constructed on top of a mound, known as Frindsbury Beacon (Monument t TQ 77 SE 6), and is still extant. This war shelter has been recorded separately, as has a purpose built road linking the battery across Hoo Common to the public road network (Monument TQ 77 SE 1407). (23-24)

The western war shelter appears to have served as a battery observation post, and was possibly used during the Second World War.

The anti aircraft guns on Beacon Hill were probably still in use in 1917, but had been removed by 1919. Although the concrete gun bases and buildings are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1944, the battery does not appear to have been reused during the Second World War. (25)

<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.

<1> Medway Military Research Group, 2008, Discovering and Recording Kent's 20th Century Military and Civil Defences (Medway District) (Unpublished document). SKE32453.

<2> Historic England, Pastscape: the website of the Historic England National Record of the Historic Environment (Website). SKE31906.

<2> MMRG, 07/07/15, Anti aircraft gun site remains (Photograph). SKE14530.

<3> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11086.

<4> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11083.

<5> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11084.

<6> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11085.

<7> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11086.

<8> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11083.

<9> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11084.

<10> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11085.

<11> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11086.

<12> MMRG, 07/07/15, Anti aircraft gun site remains (Photograph). Ske14530.

<13> 01/01/13, Air Ministry record. (Collection). Ske14480.

<14> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11085.

<15> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11084.

<16> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11083.

<17> 01/01/13, Air Ministry record. (Collection). SKE14480.

<18> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11086.

<19> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11085.

<20> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11084.

<21> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11083.

<22> Dobinson, C, 1996, Twentieth century fortifications in England, volume 1. Anti-aircraft artillery : England's air defence gunsites, 1914-46 (Monograph). SWX23706.

<23> RAF, 1942, NMR RAF/HLA/617 6100-6101 20-JUN-1942 (Photograph). SKE58745.

<24> RAF, 1947, NMR RAF CPE-UK-2303 5215 10-SEP-1947 (Photograph). SKE58746.

<25> English Heritage, 2011, RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment (Verbal communication). SKE58747.