South Walls, Walls Battery

ND39SW 46.00 34274 91071

ND39SW 46.01 ND 34221 91181, ND 34238 91161, ND 34253 91139 and ND 34286 91056 Searchlight Battery

Walls Battery situated on the headland to the SE of Hackness Martello Tower (ND39SW 8). There is one concrete twin 6 pounder gun emplacement for which no overhead cover or Observation Position were ever built. In addition there are searchlight platforms and an engine room and several hut bases.

J Guy 1993; NMRS MS 810/2.

Consisting of one concrete open gun-emplacement with two stone built engine rooms. The concrete hut bases for the accommodation camp for crew and support personnel are immediately to the rear of the gun emplacement and magazine. One crew shelter hut has been sunk into a concrete walled rectangular pit and a roofed wooden hut survives immediately to the rear of the farmhouse and is now in use for agricultural purposes.

The battery, unusually has four searchlight platforms, at ND 34221 91182, ND 34237 91161, ND 34253 91140 and ND 34286 91056, the most southerly being half built in stone.

The twin 6-pounder gun was transferred from Holm Battery (HY40SE 12.00) in 1943.

Information from RCAHMS (DE), February 2005

The gun emplacement has a six-sided holdfast with the bolts in situ and is set into the concrete base. The ready use ammunition lockers are located on the outside of and below the level of the gun platform, which is connected to the exterior arc by a small concrete bridge.

It is believed that the roofed wooden hut at ND 34242 91033 was for RAF crew accommodation for the adjacent barrage balloon site (ND39SW 64). The interiors of the two engine houses at ND 34246 91050 and ND 34332 91089 retain their engine beds with fixing bolts and cable trenches are visible in the concrete floor. Steel doors survive on both houses and that at ND 34242 81033 has a curved brick and concrete oil drum support alongside a brick pipe support at the N end.

Visited by RCAHMS (DE), 13 September 2008