Summary

A mid-C19 gun battery, part of the Royal Commission fortifications built to protect Portsmouth Harbour known as the Stokes Bay Lines.

Source: Historic England

Details

Most of the southern part of No 1 Battery survives on the northern edge of a mobile home park under grass with some tree and shrub. It includes a 'Z' shaped earth rampart varying between 1m to 1.5m high on its vertical north (internal) face and up to 3m high on its sloping south (external) face. The width varies from 2m to 6m. The north face of the rampart is faced with mass concrete 0.2-0.3m thick, in which can be seen the cast of the shuttering used in its construction. The southern face is composed of an earth bank sloping to the south.

A section of the internal face of the south rampart is in brick with a segmental arch and a brick buttress either side where the entrance and exit of the tunnel to No 2 Battery passes through the rampart. There is a similar portal in the external face of the rampart. Adjacent to it is the position of one of the expense magazines of 1860 which became a cartridge store in 1892. This has a four course segmental brick arch with concrete steps leading down to it and an Ordnance Survey datum point to one side.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduling aims to protect the earth bank and concrete revetments of the battery, the tunnel through the bank and adjacent expense magazine. A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these include the wooden door and wooden facing at the tunnel entrance, later garden features which have been added to the earthwork including the concrete supports for the bench on the earthwork and steps with stone treads cut into the rampart from some of the gardens. The ground beneath all these features is, however, included. The monument therefore has a maximum length of 60m and a maximum width of 7m including a margin of protection for the support and maintenance of the monument.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

No 1 Battery, Stokes Bay Lines is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: the cement revetments are a unique feature for an 1860s open battery;
* Survival: the battery is a substantial earthwork and survives reasonably well retaining the tunnel which connects it to No 2 Battery;
* Group Value: No 1 Battery is an integral part of the Stokes Bay Lines which are of national importance;
* Documentation: the original extent and armaments of the battery are well documented;
* Fragility/vulnerability: the cement facing and earthworks of the battery are vulnerable to damage and modification due to their situation abutting the gardens of the mobile home park.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Archaeology & Planning Solutions – The Defences of Stokes Bay Gosport Hampshire Archaeological Desk Based Assessment November 2006,
David Moore Solent Papers No.8 The Stokes Bay Defences September 2010 ISBN 0 9548453 1 5 ,

Source: Historic England