Former Royal Artillery Coast Artillery School

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of the former Coast Artillery School technical training site. The School relocated from Shoeburyness, Essex in September 1940 and was occupied until the end of the Second World War when it was abandoned. The site is located on the W side of Great Orme's Head and occupied its lower slopes extending for 1km in length. It was designed by the Royal Engineers from combinations of brick, reinforced concrete, earth and local stone and occupied by the Royal Artillery. The School trained officers and other ranks in the art of coast artillery, but also assisted in the development of new weaponry, tactics and instrumentation. It was organised into gunnery, searchlight and wireless (radar) wings, together with 21 Coast Battery (demonstrations, trials and experiments) and related support services. The School comprised observation posts (Items A, B and D), various calibre gun emplacements (Items G, K and M), command posts (Items C and H), magazine complex (Item I), coast artillery searchlight emplacements (Items F and J) and engine rooms (Items E and L). The significant views from the school when it was built would have been to the west over Conwy Bay.

The monument is of national importance as material evidence of the preparations undertaken for the defence of the UK during the Second World War and its potential to enhance our knowledge of military training practices. Although subject to an official clearance scheme in the 1950s, the monument is well preserved with a legible footprint. Many key structures and the gun emplacements survive. The site is unique in Wales as the only location where all of the coast artillery gun emplacements then in use were built and used. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The importance of the monument is further enhanced by both surviving documentary evidence and the collective group value of the structures.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is an irregular polygon in shape on plan and measures 950m NNW-SSE by 240m transversely.