Gravel Bay anti-aircraft battery

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a WWII heavy anti-aircraft gun battery, situated in enclosed coastal pasture overlooking Freshwater West beach and Gravel Bay to the S. The layout of the Gravel Bay heavy anti-aircraft gun battery followed the standard pattern of the time. The command post lies in the centre of a clover-shaped arrangement of four octagonal gunpits each containing a holdfast (the gun mounting platform) surrounded by reinforced ammunition lockers and a blast wall. All four gunpits also contain two opposing shelters, one for gun maintenance (the limber gunner's shelter) and one for the gun detachment (the tearoom). The command post comprises a rectangular sunken brick and concrete built building, containing roofed plotting, telephone and rest rooms and an open enclosure containing the identification (or spotter's) telescope, the range finder and a predictor (a mechanical computer), the instruments used to accurately locate approaching enemy aircraft. It is likely that the SW-facing orientation of the entrance of the easternmost gunpit was deliberately situated in order to enable the gun to be depressed both for firing out to sea and to act as a beach defence gun. Two smaller gun holdfasts are visible, situated on the S and N sides of the emplacement respectively and probably representing the remains of light anti-aircraft defences.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge of WWII anti-aircraft defences. The well preserved monument forms an important element within the wider regional context - the defence of the Bristol Channel ports - and the structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information in regard to building techniques and functional detail.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is irregular and measures 90m from NW to SE by up to 80m transversely.