Culver Down Battery & Bembridge Fort, Isle Of Wight

On Culver Down, near Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, are the concrete emplacements for two 9.2" Guns. The battery was constructed in 1906 and was known as Culver Down Battery. The battery remained operational throughout WW2 until it was disarmed in 1956. Directly above the Battery, is Bembridge Fort. This hexagonal fort, surrounded by a dry ditch was built in the 1860s. It provided barrack accomodation and was armed with a series of Breach Loading Guns until its decomission in 1907. The ditch was protected by three two-storey caponiers. The Fort and Battery remain in good condition and are currently owned by the National Trust.


The battery is open access all year round (but the underground magazines are sealed) and the fort is open for tours during the summer.

Plan of the Battery, courtesy of the PFS

View of the Culver Down Battery emplacements

View of one of the emplacements

Shell hoist to underground magazines

Another view

View of the second emplacement

Spigot for Mortar

Plan of the Fort, courtesy of the PFS

Entrance to Bembridge Fort

Winch for drawbridge

Casemates and parade ground

Covered Way on the Glacis

Allen Williams Turret on the top of the Fort

Steps down the Counterscarp into the ditch

Caponnier in the ditch