Continuing on around Gunner’s Park (part one can be seen here http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/2012/04/21/shoebury-batterygarrison-visit-part-1-the-ranges-jetty-and-gunners-park/) we came across yet another smaller gun mount building. This one appeared to be newer than the others, although I belive it was just used more through the second half of the 20th Century, although was of WW2 origin, being built over an older building.
This shows the whole building – to the left the old probably Victorian part, with steps used to get ontop. The WW2 part is right.
Filming!The actual gun would have been most likely mounted ontop of the building, which featured a flat concrete circular surface, referencing to the possibility. Inside it featured an old electrical light and the three-pronged light switch. It also had a large semi-circular recession probably to angle the gun ontop.
The gun mount ontop
An interesting shot inside
Two possible shelf holders inside
So we opened up the cover and woh, and hairy surprise lurks whithin 
An old strip light label, dated 1963 if I can remember rightly
The boys are at home! Inside the building
We then carried on walking and managed to find a gap in a fence to climb down into a gun ‘pit’-style mount – I had to have a hand getting up again though! It would have held a 9.2″ breech loading gun (it shot bullets which were 9.2″ wide and were loaded directly into the barrel at its base).
A nice view from the top focused on a crisp stick
Me taking a photo of the pit. These chain links may have held the gun in, and the square compartments could have held empty or new shells.
We should have been able to just walk into it but water flooding covered part of the floor near the entrance.
After this, we then walked abit of a way to the bunker to rule them all, so big in fact that it resembled a medieval castle! It was a WW2 construction, known as the Heavy Quick Firing Battery, and would have housed a gun in each of the three circular mounts ontop which project down the buildings face. It featured mechanical lifts inside to hoist the shells in a continuous magazine to the top.
A cracking image of a wartime pose – it has hardly changed
A frontal shot of the building today
A great beast in the distance
A closeup
The rear
Note one of the doorways has ‘store’ intactly engraved into it
Back a few years ago, before the park was developed into a public area, there was no shuttering on the building and access was as simple as stroll in. We could clearly not get inside, but here is an image courtesy of The Coalhouse Fort Project before it was sealed off of the shell lifts which still remain inside:
Keep an eye out next time for more bunkers and a Victorian treat!
In the footsteps of giants…
For my pictures go here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334559163232954.78255.238743826147822&type=3
And for Joe’s go here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334429693245901.78232.238743826147822&type=3
And for a YouTube documentary, go here, although wind obstructed the sound (subtitles have been put in)
[...] after visiting the huge quick-firing heavy battery (http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/2012/05/05/shoebury-batterygarrison-visit-part-2-big-bunkers/), we proceeded to a pair of Victorian Gunpowder mills, tucked behind a building-type temporary [...]