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Gun battery at Brazen Ward, Lundy

A Scheduled Monument in Area not comprised in any Parish-Lundy Island, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.19 / 51°11'24"N

Longitude: -4.6643 / 4°39'51"W

OS Eastings: 213915.404535

OS Northings: 146796.247758

OS Grid: SS139467

Mapcode National: GBR GTVJ.XYB

Mapcode Global: VH2S4.3CJ2

Entry Name: Gun battery at Brazen Ward, Lundy

Scheduled Date: 17 June 1970

Last Amended: 10 June 1998

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1016030

English Heritage Legacy ID: 27640

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Area not comprised in any Parish-Lundy Island

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Lundy

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The monument includes a gun battery situated on the end of a short rocky
promontory 15m above the shoreline on Lundy's east side. It was constructed to
prevent landing in the bay to the north and the shore immediately to the
south, including the area known as Threequarter Wall Bay.
There are two main structures. The first, on the northern side, comprises a
possible powder store and stronghold with a gun embrasure and a strong
retaining wall. The second, a weaker structure to the south, has a wall around
a promontory and a retaining wall with a small guardhouse built into the
cliff. The cliff behind each feature is quarried back to form the platforms
for the battery.
The northern building survives up to 1.75m high and measures 6m by 3m
internally. This has a strong outer wall on the east side which extends to the
north of the building to form a parapet with a gun embrasure. It then doubles
back to form a three-sided, rectangular chamber. The outer wall is 2.35m
thick, and the chamber measures 4m by 4m internally. This suggests an
emplacement for a single cannon with a powder store beside it.
To the north a wall 1.4m thick continues for 15m before meeting the cliff
side. The ground behind this has been quarried into the cliff and levelled. To
the south, beyond a break where it appears to have collapsed, the wall
continues, retaining a 4m wide platform. This wall stands up to 1.75m high
suggesting a parapet for muskets rather than a platform for cannon.
The second, weaker structure is 15m to the south of these defences. This
consists of a walled and flagged area on a natural projection facing east and
about 5m wide and 9m deep. To the south is a further wall, partly fallen away
and following the line of the cliff edge for about 40m. Behind it to the west
the cliff has been quarried back to make a platform some 4m wide. There are
the remains of a small rectangular building set into the cliff at the north
end. This was possibly a guard house, measuring 2m by 2m externally.
The battery was partly excavated in 1967.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Lundy is a small, steep sided island in the Bristol Channel, 16m north of
Hartland Point, north Devon. Aligned north-south, it is 6km long by 1km wide
and supports a predominately moorland vegetation. The 100m high cliffs and
tabular form give it a striking appearance, visible in clear weather from
parts of south west England and south Wales.
Lundy's remoteness and (until the 19th century construction of the Beach Road)
its inaccessibility, combined with a lack of shelter and cultivable soils, has
meant that it has escaped more recent occupation or development. It therefore
preserves a remarkable variety of archaeological sites from early prehistory
(c.8000 BC) onwards, representing evidence for habitation, fortification,
farming and industry. There are also archaeological remains in the waters
surrounding the island - over 150 shipwrecks are already recorded. Most of the
island's archaeology is well documented from detailed survey in the 1980s and
1990s.

The battery at Brazen Ward was constructed during the 16th or early 17th
century and remains largely intact, despite some localised erosion. Part
excavation of the site in 1967 demonstrated the survival of buried
archaeological remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
The National Trust Archaeological Survey, (1989), 30
Gardner, K, Lundy an Archaeological Field Guide, (1979), 22

Source: Historic England

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