Gun emplacements at High Angle Battery
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Gun emplacements at High Angle Battery by John Goldsmith as part of the Geograph project.
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Gun emplacements at High Angle Battery
Image: © John Goldsmith Taken: 5 Jul 2009
Near the highest point on Portland, these gun emplacements were built in a hidden position, firing high into the air in the hope of smashing shells through the decks of any enemy ship attacking Weymouth harbour. They were only in service for 12 years around the turn of the 20th century. Ammunition was stored in tunnels and supplied to the guns via a narrow gauge railway, visible running along ground level, through the arch, then up a ramp at the back, across the bridge and along the front wall to feed the front loading guns. The arch visible in the background is the entrance to The Verne barracks (now prison) where the gun crews lived. Surprisingly the construction is in concrete, not portland stone, and is crumbling in places.
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Image Location
Latitude
50.558563
Longitude
-2.431935