Construction and purpose
The Stokes Bay Lines were constructed to protect the southern approaches to Gosport from a beach landing at Stokes Bay. The Lines consisted of a ditch with a protecting rampart that ran from the Browndown Batteries in the west to the glacis of Fort Monckton in the east. Four batteries were constructed to protect the various branches of the ditch. No.1 Battery also protected the road to Browndown. No2 Battery held the main sea-facing armament for protecting the deep water anchorage at Browndown Point and also had a casemated battery of guns to fire eastwards along the main branch of the ditch towards Alverbank. No.3 Battery, at the end of Jellicoe Avenue (then Village Road) held a battery of guns to fire westwards towards No.2 Battery. No.4 Battery was an isolated work behind the redan that protected the railway to Stokes Bay Pier. No.5 Battery was the easternmost one consisting of a 'D' shaped rampart with associated expense magazines and gun emplacements. In 1878 the Royal Engineers diverted the River Alver into the Stokes Bay moat at No.2 Battery. This was to ensure that there was always sufficient water within the defensive ditch. The level of water within the ditch was controlled by a large sluice adjacent to Number 2 battery whilst penstocks at various points along the ditch allowed precise control of the water levels. When the Stokes Bay Lines were completed by 1870 the peninsula of Gosport was effectively secured against attack from the west thereby protecting Portsmouth with its harbour and dockyard. The cost of constructing these lines was calculated in a report of 1869 to be £75,120.Armament
;No.1 Battery: The first armament consisted of eight 8-inch Smooth Bore guns firing through embrasures. In 1886 the armament lists show that they were to be replaced with two 7-inch 82cwt R.B.L. guns on Dwarf Traversing Platforms mounted on A pivot racers. In 1891 they were in place. ;No.2 Battery: This was an island surrounded by the ditch supplied with water from the River Alver. Access was over a fixed bridge from No.1 Battery. The first armament was 8-inch S.B. guns firing along the moat towards No.3 Battery and in the right face casemates which fired to the west towards the rear of the Browndown Batteries. The two main sea-facing emplacements were first armed with 68prs then with 64pr R.M.L. guns. The armament lists of 1886 show that the smooth bore guns had been replaced with twelve 7-inch 82cwt R.B.L. guns and the two 64pr R.M.L. guns on the main sea-facing emplacements were to be updated with two 7-inch 7-ton RMLs on 6 ft parapet mountings. ;No.3 Battery: This was also armed with 8-inch SB guns and four 7-inch 82cwt. R.B.L. guns on Dwarf Traversing Platforms were in place by 1886. Two fired along the ditch towards No.2 Battery and two protected the glacis in front of the ditch. The No.1 gun was removed by 1891. ;No.4 Battery: This was designed for four 8-inch SB guns mounted in pairs to fire down each branch of the moat. The 1886 armament list shows that these had been replaced with four 7-inch 82cwt. R.B.L. guns on Dwarf Traversing Platforms. ;No.5 Battery: This had a mixed armament of 68pr and 8-inch smooth bore guns. The 1872 proposals called for replacements of nine 7-inch R.B.L. guns. and 1886 four remained in place.The Stokes Bay batteries today
Nothing remains of the rampart and moat that protected the rear of the Browndown Battery, west of No.2 Battery. Half of No.1 Battery was demolished in the 1930s when the Browndown Road was widened. A portion of it remains to the south of the road with much of the concrete revetments and parapets still visible in the gardens of the chalets. The tunnel connecting No.1 Battery to No.2 Battery still exists in the gardens of the chalets. The expense magazines and gun emplacements have been demolished. No.2 Battery is a grade II listed building and it is the best preserved of the Stokes Bay Batteries.References
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