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Saturday, May 13, 2006

Hougham Battery, Dover

The three-gun Hougham Battery, to the West of Dover, was constructed in 1941. It was mounted with 8" Naval guns in large concrete emplacements, with magazines beneath. The Battery site was located on the cliffs above what is now Samphire Hoe, with observation posts on the cliff edge, and the three gun positions on raised ground directly behind. Sadly, due to the building of the A20 road, which dissected the battery, all of the surface buildings (excluding the OPs), were demolished. However, some parts remain underground (although entrances have been buried), including a combined Fortress and Battery Plotting Room; the magazines for the three guns and a Dressing Station. Some buried Nissen huts and water tanks also remain in the fields on the boundary of the Battery. The OPs are next to the cliff top path and still command a good view over the Channel.


This site is on open land and the OPs can be seen on the cliff-top coastal path.

Plan of Hougham Battery

Shell hoist for underground magazine

One of the buried Nissen huts

Inside

Fortress Observation Post

Rear of the F.O.P

Rear of the Shelter

Inside the shelter

AA Magazine

The Fire Command Post

Room in the rear of the F.C.P

Inside the Battery Observation Post

Rear of the B.O.P

Emergency escape hatch of Plotting Room

Door at the bottom

Coat hooks in the Plotting Room

Entrances to some of the rooms

Light in main Plotting Room

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

pretty sure this is capel not hougham i live like 5 mins away from them..

Colin G said...

There is a similar observation post remaining at the battery in Capel

mr white said...

definitley hougham,the air conditioning ducting is all still in situ at lydden spout,it has been removed at hougham.

Unknown said...

There's a timber lined tunnel 20m down the cliff below the fortree op, does anyone know what it was for and where it goes, didn't have the nerve to go very far.

Anonymous said...

It's the entrance to the deep shelter,the surface entrances have been backfilled and its now the only way in.

Unknown said...

How do u get here.. we went to samphire hoe yesterday n was like how do u get to the bunkers on top of those cliffs any help would be appreciated

mr white said...

A very long ladder.