Brownhill Battery is a former

gun battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

at Staddon Heights,

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. It was one of a number of Plymouth fortifications to be recommended by the

Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom was a committee formed in 1859 to enquire into the ability of the United Kingdom to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power, and to advise the British Government on ...

in 1859. Construction began in 1861, at the same time as

Staddon Fort Staddon Fort is a 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the land ...

and other defensive works at Staddon Heights. The battery was completed by 1868, but was left unarmed. The battery was designed with a five-sided earthwork rampart containing a number of gun emplacements, with a ditch spanning the front. The west side of the battery is protected by a gorge wall with loopholes. In 1875, eight

RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun The RML 64-pounder 64 cwt gun is a Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . "64 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounde ...

s were assigned to the battery, but stored at Staddon Fort. By 1885, the battery was armed with six

RML 8-inch howitzer The RML 8-inch howitzer was a British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) Howitzer manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . It was used in siege batteries and in fortifications. Design and manufactu ...

s. The battery is believed to have ceased use around

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The site is now overgrown and is used for agricultural purposes, but much of the battery remains intact and is protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, first=Freddy, last=Woodward, title=The Historic Defences of Plymouth, publisher=Cornwall County Council, year=1996, isbn=978-1898166467 Forts of Plymouth, Devon Military history of Devon Coastal artillery Artillery battery fortifications in the United Kingdom