Having visited Coalhouse Fort on one of its open days, I decided to wander along to an old favourite, the heavily overgrown East Tilbury Battery. The history of this battery has recently been posted here so I will just give a short summary from Subterranean History:
"This gun battery was constructed in 1890, near Coalhouse Fort, in the village of East Tilbury. It was originally armed with two 10-inch and four 6-inch disappearing guns. Although guns have long since been removed, the emplacements and magazines beneath are still extant as are some casemated barrack rooms and other buildings. The present condition of the battery is very good, with many original stenciled signs still remaining in the underground parts although the whole site is profusely overgrown, making locating the various features very difficult."
Getting in was rather easy but actually getting to the key parts of the battery was made ultra difficult by the rather rampant plant life. Things toook a turn for the worse just before I left when the landowner turned up; he and I had encountered each other before at the other site that he owns and I did not relish another meeting as the conversation on that occasion involved an unfortunate combination of the words "shotgun", "bastard", "trespasser" and "shoot". Fortunately, British army DPM camouflage proved its worth as I did what was apparently a rather good impression of part of a large bush
.
So, on with the pictures:
First, a 6" shell hoist
Another shot of it:
Just inside the 6" magazine entrance:
An issuing hatch in the 6" magazine:
The bottom of another 6" hoist:
A rather nice sign:
Another issuing hatch:
This way to an ammunition lift:
A rather rusty 10" ammunition lift:
The even rustier handle and gears for it:
Apologies for the quality of the pictures, especially the last one, but I was only armed with an iPhone and a somewhat tired Maglite as this was an unplanned visit. If you want to put it in the pit, please feel free to do so; I will understand why.
"This gun battery was constructed in 1890, near Coalhouse Fort, in the village of East Tilbury. It was originally armed with two 10-inch and four 6-inch disappearing guns. Although guns have long since been removed, the emplacements and magazines beneath are still extant as are some casemated barrack rooms and other buildings. The present condition of the battery is very good, with many original stenciled signs still remaining in the underground parts although the whole site is profusely overgrown, making locating the various features very difficult."
Getting in was rather easy but actually getting to the key parts of the battery was made ultra difficult by the rather rampant plant life. Things toook a turn for the worse just before I left when the landowner turned up; he and I had encountered each other before at the other site that he owns and I did not relish another meeting as the conversation on that occasion involved an unfortunate combination of the words "shotgun", "bastard", "trespasser" and "shoot". Fortunately, British army DPM camouflage proved its worth as I did what was apparently a rather good impression of part of a large bush
.So, on with the pictures:
First, a 6" shell hoist
Another shot of it:
Just inside the 6" magazine entrance:
An issuing hatch in the 6" magazine:
The bottom of another 6" hoist:
A rather nice sign:
Another issuing hatch:
This way to an ammunition lift:
A rather rusty 10" ammunition lift:
The even rustier handle and gears for it:
Apologies for the quality of the pictures, especially the last one, but I was only armed with an iPhone and a somewhat tired Maglite as this was an unplanned visit. If you want to put it in the pit, please feel free to do so; I will understand why.
