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Mumbles Battery

Coordinates: 51°34′01″N 3°58′16″W / 51.566853°N 3.971235°W / 51.566853; -3.971235
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Mumbles Battery
Mumbles Head
Swansea
Wales
MumblesLighthouse2
Mumbles Battery at the base of the Mumbles Lighthouse, 2008
Mumbles Battery is located in Wales
Mumbles Battery
Mumbles Battery
Coordinates51°34′01″N 3°58′16″W / 51.566853°N 3.971235°W / 51.566853; -3.971235
Site information
Open to
the public
No
Site history
Built1859-61
In useTrinity House lighthouse
MaterialsStone

Mumbles Battery is a coastal battery situated on the north coast of the Bristol Channel, overlooking Swansea. It was built around the base of the Mumbles Lighthouse as part of a network of Palmerston Forts which was established in response to fears of French invasion, and was designed to protect Swansea Bay.

History and Construction

Construction of the battery began in 1859 and was completed by 1861 at a cost of £8,760.[1]

During the Second World War the defences of the Bristol Channel were increased significantly. In 1940 the two 4.7-inch guns were operated by soldiers from the 531st (Glamorgan) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery.[2] Well before the end of the war, as the German threat decreased, the battery was placed into care and maintenance.

The battery was declared surplus to requirements in 1956 upon the dissolution of the UK's coast artillery. The guns were dismounted and the battery disposed of.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Stevenson, Ian, 2000. The Bristol Channel and Swansea Defences, Redan:Journal of the Palmerston Forts Society, Gosport, pp28-50
  2. ^ Col K W Maurice-Jones, 1959. The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army, Royal Artillery Institution, London, p221

Publications

[edit]
  • Saunders, A.; Spurgeon, C.J.; Thomas, H.J.; Roberts, D.J. (2001). Guns Across The Severn: The Victorian Fortifications of Glamorgan. Aberystwyth: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. ISBN 1-871184-25-8.