Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

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

2017 - An eroded War Department boundary marker stone at the former site of the Penarth Head battery.

Remains of a heavily eroded War Department boundary marker discovered during site visit August 2017. Both the arrow and W D initials are just legible. The stone has been incorporated into the front wall of a property at the junction of Penarth Head Lane and Clive Place and is all that survives of the Penarth Head Battery.

'GGAT 137 Defence of the Realm : Coastal Defence and Port Facilities : South East Wales and the First World War' [1108] [1109]

An explanation for the lack of boundary stones and/or their defacing, as above, could be a Special Condition of Sale imposed during the Auction and Sale of the site during October 1931 (as documented later within this Chapter) which states : -

'7 - The Vendor reserves the right to enter upon the property for the purposes of removing or defacing boundary stones within three months of the completion of the purchase.' (Glamorgan Archives [599] ref : DSA/6/895)

c.1903-1911 - Plans of the Penarth Head Battery - borrowed from a fine website source, Victorian Forts and Artillery. The battery was commenced in 1902 and completed in 1903. In the period there were two 6-inch Mark VII guns installed which were disarmed and the site abandoned in 1931. [1112]

The 6-inch Mark VII B.L. Gun No. 1553 made by Vickers, Sons and Maxim in 1901 which would be similar to the two guns mounted at the Penarth Head Battery in 1903. The original mounting is apparently different. This gun is sited at Bermuda. [381]