Frenchman's Battery
Frenchman's Battery
HER Number
869
District
S Tyneside
Site Name
Frenchman's Battery
Place
South Shields
Map Sheet
NZ36NE
Class
Defence
Site Type: Broad
Coastal Defence Site
Site Type: Specific
Coastal Battery
General Period
20TH CENTURY
Specific Period
Early 20th Century 1901 to 1932
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
438700
Northing
566300
Grid Reference
NZ438700566300
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
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