Monument record TR 07 SW 20 - Fletcher battery (c1900)

Concrete battery for 2x9.2-in. BL guns, with magazines, Battery Observation Post for DPF and 28 ft. Barr and Stroud range finder, War shelter and Gun Commanders Postition. Good condition. Traces of wartime camouflage extant. BOP now used as cafe. (1)

The battery is set back from the cliff edge near Swanley Farm. In most respects it is a typical 9.2in. BL battery with a Battery Observation Post and fire control building alongside. The WW2 emplacement was added to the east side of the original battery. A distinguishing feature was the close defence provision. As well as a ditch and wire enclosure there were concrete pillboxes of a complex curved and clustered plan at either side of the battery.


Importance
15
With the destruction of Ravelin Battery, Sheerness, this is the best preserved 9.2in.BL battery in the Isle of Sheppey and an example of one of the very few coastal batteries to be built during WW1.

Historic importance - C

Structural survival - B


Condition
16
The battery has suffered greatly in recent years in the midst of a holiday caravan park. The earth covering of the magazine behind the WW2 9.2in BL emplacement has been removed as has the earth in front of the BOP. One of the pillboxes seems displaced. There is now little trace of the former close defences. The internal concrete faces of the original emplacements are stripped down and clad in vertical timber boarding.

Current condition - C


Ownership (or tenancy)
17


Use(s) of the site
18
Caravan holiday camp


Statutory protection
19
None


Nature conservation interests
20
SSSI: Sheppey cliffs & foreshore


Public access to the site
21
Access as part of the holiday camp


Relationship to other sites
22
Part of the line of former coastal batteries constructed during the first two decades of the 20th century along the north coast of Sheppey. Ravelin and Warden Point Batteries have gone, leaving the much altered remains of Barton's Point Battery to accompany Fletcher Battery. (2)

Concrete battery for 2x9.2-in. BL guns, with magazines, Battery Observation Post for DPF and 28 ft. Barr and Stroud range finder, War shelter and Gun Commander's Position. Traces of wartime camouflage extant. BOP now used as cafe. Above ground concrete building thought to be the original magazine of the battery. Earthen blast walls missing. Used as a club house. Good condition

9.2in gun coastal battery.The semi-circular locations for the two guns still exist as does a blast wall and a bunker with a large concrete dome. This bunker is still accessible through a tunnel. It also contains a number of beds. An observation tower and some pillboxes also exist nearby.

No.1 Gun coastal battery. Despite now being a caravan park, this site is in good condition. Gun emplacements remain uncovered and well maintained. Low-level magazines appear sound, and the BOP is clearly visible. Some ancillary buildings also remain. [information from 1979 aerial photographs]. 2 x 9.2in BL guns.Fletcher caravan park, NE of Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey. (1-2)

Fletcher Battery located at TR 0031 7281. The battery was opened in 1918 and equipped with two 9.2-inch breech-loading Mk. X guns. In 1920 it was retained for permanent use. During the Second World War it was used for counter-bombardment. In 1943 it was given a night long-range fire role until it was closed by February 1945. (3-4)

Fletcher Battery survives in near complete condition despite a caravan park being at the site. The gun emplacements remain uncovered and well maintained. Low-level magazines, the battery observation post and some ancillary buildings remain. (5)

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

<2> Victor Smith and Andrew Saunders, 2001, Kent's Defence Heritage (Unpublished document). SKE6956.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2002, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SKE32029.

<4> Dobinson, C., 2000, Twentieth century fortifications in England. Volume 6.1. Coast Artillery, 1900-1956 (Monograph). SWX23710.