East Tilbury Battery - Essex
East Tilbury battery was built to supplement Coalhouse Fort as part of the Thames' coastal defence system. It was constructed between 1889 and 1892 for long-range fire weapons. Its form rejected the stark outline of its predecessors, instead being blended into the landscape by means of a long and sloping earthern frontal area so that from a distance it was invisible. This was known as the 'Twydall Profile'. The guns at the battery, two 10-inch Mk. III and four 6-inch Mk. VII breech-loading guns, extended the tactical doctrine of invisibility, being mounted on 'disappearing carriages' which lay flat in deep emplacements for reloading and aiming but which were raised above the parapet for the few seconds of firing. Below the gun mountings were magazines and accommodation blocks, and to the rear of the battery were a cookhouse and the battery office. Unclimbable 'Dacoit fencing', set in a steeply-sided ditch, surrounds the site.
The battery kept its 10-inch guns until they were declared obsolete, being partially dismantled by 1903.
By 1909 the 6-inch guns were declared superfluous and were also partially dismantled and by 1913 all guns had been removed from the site.
On 17th June 1930 the battery was sold to a local farmer for £1200. It was used during WWII as an unofficial air raid shelter by the local population.
East Tilbury Battery - Essex
East Tilbury battery was built to supplement Coalhouse Fort as part of the Thames' coastal defence system. It was constructed between 1889 and 1892 for long-range fire weapons. Its form rejected the stark outline of its predecessors, instead being blended into the landscape by means of a long and sloping earthern frontal area so that from a distance it was invisible. This was known as the 'Twydall Profile'. The guns at the battery, two 10-inch Mk. III and four 6-inch Mk. VII breech-loading guns, extended the tactical doctrine of invisibility, being mounted on 'disappearing carriages' which lay flat in deep emplacements for reloading and aiming but which were raised above the parapet for the few seconds of firing. Below the gun mountings were magazines and accommodation blocks, and to the rear of the battery were a cookhouse and the battery office. Unclimbable 'Dacoit fencing', set in a steeply-sided ditch, surrounds the site.
The battery kept its 10-inch guns until they were declared obsolete, being partially dismantled by 1903.
By 1909 the 6-inch guns were declared superfluous and were also partially dismantled and by 1913 all guns had been removed from the site.
On 17th June 1930 the battery was sold to a local farmer for £1200. It was used during WWII as an unofficial air raid shelter by the local population.