Redcliff Battery

This gun installation had issues from the start since it was built dangerously near to a deteriorating cliff. Built on the cliff’s edge at an elevation of 150 feet, this once-excellent Yaverland battery location is now completely inaccessible due to the sea’s progressive erosion of the underlying chalk.

With its initial armament of four 7-inch R.B.L. guns and a location built west of the Culver Cliff and around 1000 yards east of the Yaverland Battery in 1861, the battery was dogged by slippage issues from the start. All four cannons were pointed out to sea, and magazine No. 2 had enough powder for 190 rounds.

The cliff on the left flank began to collapse into the sea in 1867, and by 1868 the only means of access to the battery was a drawbridge on the north side. In 1887, adjustments were made to the gun emplacements, and by 1891, the fort’s slipping state had deteriorated to the point that it had to be abandoned.

• Palmerstonforts Society Redcliff PDF

• PDF’s are reproduced with kind permission of the Palmerstonforts Society
• https://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/plain/A83150994
• Isle of Wight Archive – Youtube Video