Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - Defence of the Realm - Penarth Head Fort and Coastal Battery . . .

In March 2018, Cadw published the results of a study undertaken by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) whom produced a report entitled 'GGAT 137 Defence of the Realm : Coastal Defence and Port Facilities : South East Wales and the First World War' [1108] [1109] the author being Mr. Paul W. Huckfield B.A. (Hons).

This chapter is partially based upon the findings of this report ; the Penarth Head installation is therefore considered a critical element in the security of Penarth Dock and the River Ely Tidal Harbour. The objective of the study was to examine and assess the archaeological legacy of all the coastal defences of Glamorganshire and Gwent during the First World War. Mr. Huckfield comments : -

The generation that witnessed the events of the First World War has gone and there is no longer the opportunity to collect oral testimony of the changes that took place. Therefore, it is now important to look at the physical remains before they are lost and can no longer be recognised.

The potential vulnerability of the Bristol Channel area to hostile attack had been recognised since the 18th and 19th centuries and with the outbreak of the First World War, just as in the Second World War, there was a very real fear of German invasion.

The defence on the Welsh side of the Bristol Channel consisted of the Severn Defences, a line of defence which stretched from the Severn Tunnel to the Burry Estuary, and included coastal batteries at Penarth Head (PRN02010s), Lavernock (PRN02017s), Flat Holm (PRN01962s, 01963s, 01964s, and 02138s) Nell’s Point, Barry (PRN02018s) and the Tutt, Swansea (PRN02243w).

The last two batteries were constructed in the early 20th century after a general review of Britain’s coastal defences known as the Owen Report. These five artillery batteries provided fields of fire that overlapped with those of the forts at Brean Down and Steep Holm Island and with the batteries at Portishead and Avonmouth, and were designed to sink enemy shipping threatening the Bristol Channel ports.

The following are duplications of the Penarth Head Fort and Coastal Battery and searchlight images etc. previously included within this Penarth Dock website : -