East Weare Practice Battery
East Weare Practice Battery is a former practice gun battery of early 20th century origin at East Weare. It is located below the south-east region of the Verne Citadel and to the west of A Battery of East Weare Batteries. The site is now part of Portland Port Ltd's estate and is not accessible to the public.
History
East Weare was the location of one of a number of practice batteries to be built around the country during the 1890s and 1900s. In 1897, the Royal Artillery Institution recommended that such batteries should be built "at as many stations as possible [in] waters fairly clear of shipping, which are generally to be found adjacent to a fortress". They were to be made available for use by Volunteers "at all times" and by the Militia "during their training". The obsolete BL 5-inch gun was considered to be the most suitable for artillery practice and training purposes. Its ammunition was cheap and the Admiralty held a large number of redundant ex-naval ship Vavasseur mountings that could be used to mount the guns.
The practice battery at East Weare was approved in 1902, with construction being carried out between 1903 and 1905. It was built below the south-east side of the Verne Citadel on land above East Weare's A and B Batteries. The site, approximately 360 feet above sea level, previously formed part of the route of a railway used in connection with the construction of the Verne Citadel. Access to the battery was provided from the north, either from the Verne Citadel using its south-east sally port or from the East Weare Batteries below using the existing network of paths in the area.
The battery had four BL 5-inch guns which were installed on Vavasseur Mark II mountings. Its use for practice and training, mainly by the 1st Dorsetshire Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers), proved to be short lived as three of the guns were dismounted in 1908. The fourth was retained as a signal gun; the year it was dismounted is unclear, but it was still in place in 1919 and gone by 1930. With the decommissioning of the practice battery, practice at East Weare was provided at A and B Batteries below using two QF 3-pdr Hotchkiss and two QF 6-pdr Hotchkiss sub-calibre training guns. These were operated using the main BL 9.2-inch and BL 6-inch guns installed at A and B Batteries.
Condition
The full extent of the practice battery's survival is unknown. The southernmost gun emplacement is the only one to have been left exposed in recent years, but it is possible that the other three are merely infilled and survive below ground surface. Behind the positions of the emplacements, a brick and concrete building connected to the battery remains intact. It may have served as a shelter, magazine and/or a store. Four smaller structures, one assigned to each emplacement and possibly serving as ready-use ammunition or storage lockers, may also survive in the undergrowth.
The site was undisturbed and left to nature until recent years when Portland Port Ltd erected new security fencing in the area in 2016. This has resulted in some disturbance of the battery site although the southernmost emplacement's central pivot mounting is still in situ. An adjacent block house, built to protect the right flank perimeter of East Weare Batteries, was demolished in 2016 and the track now through over the battery site was cleared of grass and shrub and re-laid with stone chippings by 2020. The track is part of the proposed "missing link" footpath over Portland Port's land. This would connect the two right-of-way paths near Nicodemus Knob and the Royal Naval Cemetery, both of which currently terminate on each side of the port's security fencing.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution - Volume XXIV - 1897 - report
2) The National Archives - Portland: East Weare Battery - WO 192/304 - fort record book - 1940-54 - website page
3) Victorian Forts - 5-inch B.L. Vavasseur Mounting Mark II - website page
4) War Office - Armament for Practice - Southern C.D. - Portland - East Weare Practice Battery - 1913 - report (with thanks to Duncan Williams)
5) War Office - Armament for Practice - Southern C.D. - Portland - East Weare Practice Battery - 1919 - report
6) War Office - map of Portland/Verne Citadel - c. 1915 - map
History
East Weare was the location of one of a number of practice batteries to be built around the country during the 1890s and 1900s. In 1897, the Royal Artillery Institution recommended that such batteries should be built "at as many stations as possible [in] waters fairly clear of shipping, which are generally to be found adjacent to a fortress". They were to be made available for use by Volunteers "at all times" and by the Militia "during their training". The obsolete BL 5-inch gun was considered to be the most suitable for artillery practice and training purposes. Its ammunition was cheap and the Admiralty held a large number of redundant ex-naval ship Vavasseur mountings that could be used to mount the guns.
The practice battery at East Weare was approved in 1902, with construction being carried out between 1903 and 1905. It was built below the south-east side of the Verne Citadel on land above East Weare's A and B Batteries. The site, approximately 360 feet above sea level, previously formed part of the route of a railway used in connection with the construction of the Verne Citadel. Access to the battery was provided from the north, either from the Verne Citadel using its south-east sally port or from the East Weare Batteries below using the existing network of paths in the area.
The battery had four BL 5-inch guns which were installed on Vavasseur Mark II mountings. Its use for practice and training, mainly by the 1st Dorsetshire Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers), proved to be short lived as three of the guns were dismounted in 1908. The fourth was retained as a signal gun; the year it was dismounted is unclear, but it was still in place in 1919 and gone by 1930. With the decommissioning of the practice battery, practice at East Weare was provided at A and B Batteries below using two QF 3-pdr Hotchkiss and two QF 6-pdr Hotchkiss sub-calibre training guns. These were operated using the main BL 9.2-inch and BL 6-inch guns installed at A and B Batteries.
Condition
The full extent of the practice battery's survival is unknown. The southernmost gun emplacement is the only one to have been left exposed in recent years, but it is possible that the other three are merely infilled and survive below ground surface. Behind the positions of the emplacements, a brick and concrete building connected to the battery remains intact. It may have served as a shelter, magazine and/or a store. Four smaller structures, one assigned to each emplacement and possibly serving as ready-use ammunition or storage lockers, may also survive in the undergrowth.
The site was undisturbed and left to nature until recent years when Portland Port Ltd erected new security fencing in the area in 2016. This has resulted in some disturbance of the battery site although the southernmost emplacement's central pivot mounting is still in situ. An adjacent block house, built to protect the right flank perimeter of East Weare Batteries, was demolished in 2016 and the track now through over the battery site was cleared of grass and shrub and re-laid with stone chippings by 2020. The track is part of the proposed "missing link" footpath over Portland Port's land. This would connect the two right-of-way paths near Nicodemus Knob and the Royal Naval Cemetery, both of which currently terminate on each side of the port's security fencing.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution - Volume XXIV - 1897 - report
2) The National Archives - Portland: East Weare Battery - WO 192/304 - fort record book - 1940-54 - website page
3) Victorian Forts - 5-inch B.L. Vavasseur Mounting Mark II - website page
4) War Office - Armament for Practice - Southern C.D. - Portland - East Weare Practice Battery - 1913 - report (with thanks to Duncan Williams)
5) War Office - Armament for Practice - Southern C.D. - Portland - East Weare Practice Battery - 1919 - report
6) War Office - map of Portland/Verne Citadel - c. 1915 - map
Gallery
These images can be enlarged by clicking on them. Some images have information attached to them, and to view this you can either enlarge the image or hover the mouse over each thumbnail. The bottom three photos have been kindly supplied by Benjamin Bendall for inclusion on this page.
