South Shields, Frenchman's Battery

HER Number:
869

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields, Frenchman's Battery

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Battery

Site Type: Specific:
Coastal Battery

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
In 1900-03 a battery was constructed on this site to "complement that at Tynemouth castle", and equipped with one 9.2-inch Mk X/V and two 6-inch Mk VII/CPII guns. Between 1905-14 it was surplus to requirements, but was brought back into service in 1914. In 1922 the battery was dismantled and the site sold, but in 1940 the site was requisitioned, "and two naval 6-inch mounted in old emplacements by RM. It was manned by 348 Coast Battery, 508 Coast Regiment RA". Between 1941-43 a new battery was constructed for three 7.5-inch Mk VI guns taken from HMS Effingham. Later in 1943 the guns were dismounted and the site abandoned. Recently the site has been assessed by Defence of Britain Project, which found the site in bad condition, the right hand of two earth covered gun emplacements now destroyed.

Easting:
387

Northing:
663

Grid Reference:
NZ387663

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 869 >> D.H. Clarke & A. Rudd, 1989, The Defences of Tyneside Frenchman's Battery, South Shields, Fortress Study Group Conference, p. 7 Defence of Britain Project, 2002, Defence of Britain Database, S0015125 D. Clarke & A. Rudd, 1989, Tyneside in the Breech Loading Era Fortress, No. 3, pp 33-42; English Heritage, 2008, Hadrian's Wall National Mapping Programme, 1314370; Archaeological Research Services, 2010, Phase 2 North East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment, Project Record Number 140; Oxford Archaeology, 2015, First World War Wireless Stations in England