Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

St Margaret’s Bay Battery was visible on aerial photographs taken in 1941 and 1942 and 1946, and was located in St Margaret’s at Cliffe. The battery contained four guns and went out of use after WWII, thus only some elements were still visible in 1949 and 1950. The whole site was no longer visible, and partially built upon in 2007.

Monument Types

• BARBED WIRE ENTANGLEMENT (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• GUN EMPLACEMENT (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• MILITARY BUILDING (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• NISSEN HUT (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• SLIT TRENCH (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
• COAST BATTERY GUN SITE (Modern - 1940 AD to 1945 AD)
• COASTAL BATTERY (Modern - 1940 AD to 1945 AD)
• COASTAL BATTERY (Modern - 1940 AD? to 1944 AD?)

Full description

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St Margarets Bay Battery was a World War Two coast battery which emplaced four 5.5 inch guns. By September 1940 there were 4 x 5.5 inch guns installed. By 1942 the battery was reduced to 2 x 5.5 inch guns.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : Part of the site now has houses built on it.
Tourism Potential : None
Condition : Destroyed
Date of visit : 01/01/76

St Margaret’s Bay Battery was visible on aerial photographs taken in 1941 [2], 1942 [3] and 1946 [4, 5] and located in St Margaret’s at Cliffe. Aerial photographs showed the site to be fully completed (with all elements still visible) in 1946. The battery went out of use after WWII and only some elements were still visible on aerial photographs taken in 1949 [6, 7] and 1950 [8]. None of the features lying to the NE were visible on aerial photographs taken in 1978 [9] and the whole site was absent on Next Perspectives photography taken in 2007 [10, 11, 12, 13].

The site contained four gun emplacements, each of 14m x 10m with banking extending 6-8m in front of the embrasures. These were visible on aerial photography taken in 1941, 1942, 1946 and 1950.

Slit trenches were seen to the N of the gun emplacements, all were visible in their final form, or just being created as seen on aerial photographs taken in 1941. One stepped trench 40m long, located immediately behind the emplacements was recently dug in 1941. However, aerial photographs taken in 1942 showed it to be banked over – thus it is possible that this was a shelter for the use of the military personnel. Two stepped slit trenches of 48m and 50m located just N of the gun emplacements were visible on aerial photographs in 1941 as having just been begun. 1942 aerial photography showed these to have been completed and they were still visible on aerial photographs taken in 1949. A further three slit trenches 15m long, were located to the NE and NW of the gun emplacements and were visible in aerial photographs taken in 1941. An additional stepped trench of 30m was visible in the SW of the site. This appeared as a cleared area on aerial photographs taken in 1941, just the ditch was visible on aerial photographs taken in 1942 and on 1946 photography the site was seen with a bank and pathway leading to it. A similar T-shaped slit trench was seen slightly N of the last mentioned trench, which was 30 m long and cut into existing banking of a field boundary. This was first seen on aerial photography taken in 1942.

Eight buildings were located in the NE of the site, two of which were nissen huts. These structures spanned an area of 70m x 60m and were built around existing structures. They were not visible on aerial photographs taken in 1941 or 1942, but were still visible in 1950; though the nissen huts were removed prior to 1950. An additional three structures with maximum dimensions of 6m were seen to be associated with the largest slit trenches, but were visible only in aerial photographs taken in 1946 and 1949. Another two structures, again with maximum dimensions of 6m, were seen to the SW of the site. These were both visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946, and the N structure was still visible in 1949. A semi-circular, pointed structure of 5m diameter was visible in the centre of the site on aerial photographs taken in 1942 and 1946.

Four banked gun emplacements were also present, two circular of 10m diameter at the N end of the site and two to the S (one circular of 6m diameter and one 8.5m x 7m rectangular). Only one of the emplacements in the S was visible on aerial photographs taken in 1941. The second S emplacement and one of the N emplacements were visible on photographs taken in 1942, and all four were visible on 1946 aerial photography. The second N emplacement was visible as a levelled area in 1950.

The whole site was enveloped by an entanglement of barbed wire spanning 620m x 470m. This varied from one thickness to up to four. It was visible in aerial photographs taken in 1942, but not in 1941 and had been removed by 1950.

Fort Record Book WO/192/199 kept in National Archive (Miscellaneous Material). SKE14120.

<1> Fort Record Book WO/192/199 kept in National Archive (Miscellaneous Material). Ske14120.

<10> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, Next Perspectives PGA Tile Ref: TR3644 28-APR-2007_Updates (Graphic material). SWX15711.

<11> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, Next Perspectives PGA Tile Ref: TR3744 28-APR-2007_Updates (Graphic material). SWX15711.

<12> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, Next Perspectives PGA Tile Ref: TR3645 28-APR-2007_Updates (Graphic material). SWX15711.

<13> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, Next Perspectives PGA Tile Ref: TR3745 28-APR-2007_Updates (Graphic material). SWX15711.

Sources and further reading

Related records