High Angle Battery on Portland at risk says Historic England

High Angle Battery within the Verne Citadel is being placed on the register due to ongoing erosion, which is damaging some of the buildings and tunnels. Excessive weed growth is also affecting the archaeology, and theft of stonework, vandalism and graffiti on some walls is a cause for concern. 

• Image: Historic England

Although it is free-to-enter and often stumbled upon by both visitors and locals, Historic England says there is currently little on-site interpretation, so the Battery is poorly understood and under-appreciated by those that do find it.

High Angle Battery, is an important part of Portland’s military past and a significant element in an ‘arms race’ in the later 19th Century. 

It was built in the 1890s with the intention of firing shells down onto ships attacking Portland Harbour from a position invisible to those on the ships – aided by a complicated system to help the gunners locate the ships. The site went out of use after little more than 10 years without firing a shot in anger – for the simple reason that vessels had become faster, and the system was unlikely to work. Today, what remains is an extensive below-ground complex of buildings, tunnels, and gun emplacements.

• Image: Historic England

Dorset Council is working with partners to develop and obtain funding for a project to secure High Angle Battery’s future.  Aims of the project will include a programme of repairs, conservation of the site’s ecology and a new interpretation scheme.

Steve Wallis, senior archaeologist at Dorset Council, said: “We hope to involve a wide range of people and offer opportunities to develop skills in heritage conservation and management. We want High Angle Battery to become part of Portland’s offer to visitors, helping boost the local economy while remaining free to visit.”

SAVED

Historic England says the Mesolithic site at Culverwell, Portland, has been saved. The site is approximately 8,000 years old.

It is thought to have been a settlement for around 20 people at a time when the population of Britain is estimated to have been below 5,000. Comprising a large shell midden (rubbish dump) and associated hearths, the site provides insight into how Mesolithic people lived and used the resources around them.

Following excavations between 1967 and 1996 by archaeologist Susann Palmer, the site was left uncovered within a timber shed to allow visitors the unique opportunity to experience the archaeology at first hand. However, animal burrowing and increasing storm-intensity weather has caused some loss of this fragile site and it was placed on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2008.

Historic England says it has supported the owner and volunteers from the Association for Portland Archaeology (APA) to remove the shed and to backfill the site for its protection, which was completed in spring 2022. Scientists from HE along with volunteers from APA also cleaned and recorded the exposed sections and surfaces to allow a condition assessment, while small samples have been taken to enable a better understanding and record of this unique site.

In an exciting discovery during the recording of the section a scallop shell, pierced to be worn as a badge or pendant was recovered. These are seldom found in south-west England and mostly commemorate a medieval pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. During an earlier phase of excavation Ms Palmer found another pierced scallop badge beneath a prominent stone within the shell midden. Both badges are a national rarity, with fewer than a dozen of any age known to have been found in England.