1941-1956 6-in Mk.VII Gun Emplacement, Beacon Hill Fort, Harwich.
6-inch Mk.VII Gun Emplacement constructed in 1941 using reinforced concrete and iron throughout, with an anti-strafing protective cover. It replaced and almost totally removed the 1901 6-inch BL gun emplacement, while re-using its magazine and shelter, it partially superseded a pillbox.
The casemate is a rectangular wall 9ft 8in high extending around part of the sides and the rear of the gun emplacement, and entered through a simple opening in the west or rear wall. Against the northern side it includes a small rectangular room, measuring 8ft x 4ft, reached through a doorway 3ft wide x 5ft 11in high. The door opened outward. The room probably received and directed electric and hydraulic power to the gun and emplacement, a continuous channel in the floor leads around the room and out into the gun pit. Scars on the walls are probably from shelving, power boxes and coat hooks.
The casemate roof is an anti-strafing cover, comprising a framework of iron girders supporting a roof of 3ft square x 3in thick concrete-asphalt tiles. The upright girders holding the roof are carried on small concrete pads. Along the back wall of the casemate are five recessed ready-use ammunition lockers, two of which abut the sides of the pillbox. Measuring on average 3ft 3in wide, 3ft 1in deep x 3ft 1in high, the recesses have metal frames for outward opening double doors, one is labelled ''CARTRIDGE''
The gun emplacement itself is reached by two upward flights of steps at the northern and southern ends of the casemate. The rear of the emplacement contains five recessed lockers for ready-use ammunition, measuring on average, 3ft 3in wide, 3ft 1in deep x 2ft 11in high. Several heavy-duty metal frames for outward-opening double metal doors, and at least one is labelled ''SHEL''. A drainage gully runs around the outside of the emplacement. The emplacement defines a circular gun pit 24ft 7in in diameter and 5ft 3in deep, partly covered by a platform supported on concrete pillars leaving a central circular aperture, 13ft 1in wide, for mounting of the 6-inch Mk.VII gun. The heavy holdfast bolts in the base of the gun pit are offset in two concentric circles of 7ft 3in and 7ft 4in diameter.
The channel bringing the power to the gun, rebated for metal covers, runs into the gun pit through a gap in the emplacement, 2ft 5in wide, in the north-west corner. This gun was sited on the edge of the promontory overlooking the Haven. Such was the potential of instability of the site that the emplacement has been strengthened with six tires of roughly concentric concrete buttressing, such that it resembles a ''wedding cake'' when viewed from a distance. The buttressing, which is visible in aerial photographs dated 1944, has not prevented the appearance of large cracks in the structure.
Behind the casemate to the west, but offset southward from its entrance, is a covered corridor, 33ft 1in long x 6ft 0.5in wide internally. It is lit partly by natural light at high level in the north wall by three six-light windows, each 1ft 8in wide x 1ft 2in high. At the far end the south wall is carried around the shaft of an ammunition lift from the magazine below, accessed through an opening in the wall, 5ft 10in x 5ft 5indeep, with a shelf 1ft 7in wide projecting into the corridor at waist level. An electric light bracket survives above the lift. Brickwork in the lift opening is a late feature. Ammunition would have been unloaded and taken along the corridor on wheeled trolleys to the ready-use ammunition lockers in the casemate. An external sign on the northern wall denotes the most recent military designation of the gun ''A3 EMPLACEMENT''.
1941-1956 6-in Mk.VII Gun Emplacement, Beacon Hill Fort, Harwich.
6-inch Mk.VII Gun Emplacement constructed in 1941 using reinforced concrete and iron throughout, with an anti-strafing protective cover. It replaced and almost totally removed the 1901 6-inch BL gun emplacement, while re-using its magazine and shelter, it partially superseded a pillbox.
The casemate is a rectangular wall 9ft 8in high extending around part of the sides and the rear of the gun emplacement, and entered through a simple opening in the west or rear wall. Against the northern side it includes a small rectangular room, measuring 8ft x 4ft, reached through a doorway 3ft wide x 5ft 11in high. The door opened outward. The room probably received and directed electric and hydraulic power to the gun and emplacement, a continuous channel in the floor leads around the room and out into the gun pit. Scars on the walls are probably from shelving, power boxes and coat hooks.
The casemate roof is an anti-strafing cover, comprising a framework of iron girders supporting a roof of 3ft square x 3in thick concrete-asphalt tiles. The upright girders holding the roof are carried on small concrete pads. Along the back wall of the casemate are five recessed ready-use ammunition lockers, two of which abut the sides of the pillbox. Measuring on average 3ft 3in wide, 3ft 1in deep x 3ft 1in high, the recesses have metal frames for outward opening double doors, one is labelled ''CARTRIDGE''
The gun emplacement itself is reached by two upward flights of steps at the northern and southern ends of the casemate. The rear of the emplacement contains five recessed lockers for ready-use ammunition, measuring on average, 3ft 3in wide, 3ft 1in deep x 2ft 11in high. Several heavy-duty metal frames for outward-opening double metal doors, and at least one is labelled ''SHEL''. A drainage gully runs around the outside of the emplacement. The emplacement defines a circular gun pit 24ft 7in in diameter and 5ft 3in deep, partly covered by a platform supported on concrete pillars leaving a central circular aperture, 13ft 1in wide, for mounting of the 6-inch Mk.VII gun. The heavy holdfast bolts in the base of the gun pit are offset in two concentric circles of 7ft 3in and 7ft 4in diameter.
The channel bringing the power to the gun, rebated for metal covers, runs into the gun pit through a gap in the emplacement, 2ft 5in wide, in the north-west corner. This gun was sited on the edge of the promontory overlooking the Haven. Such was the potential of instability of the site that the emplacement has been strengthened with six tires of roughly concentric concrete buttressing, such that it resembles a ''wedding cake'' when viewed from a distance. The buttressing, which is visible in aerial photographs dated 1944, has not prevented the appearance of large cracks in the structure.
Behind the casemate to the west, but offset southward from its entrance, is a covered corridor, 33ft 1in long x 6ft 0.5in wide internally. It is lit partly by natural light at high level in the north wall by three six-light windows, each 1ft 8in wide x 1ft 2in high. At the far end the south wall is carried around the shaft of an ammunition lift from the magazine below, accessed through an opening in the wall, 5ft 10in x 5ft 5indeep, with a shelf 1ft 7in wide projecting into the corridor at waist level. An electric light bracket survives above the lift. Brickwork in the lift opening is a late feature. Ammunition would have been unloaded and taken along the corridor on wheeled trolleys to the ready-use ammunition lockers in the casemate. An external sign on the northern wall denotes the most recent military designation of the gun ''A3 EMPLACEMENT''.