Proof and Experimental Establishment, Shoebury Garrison, Old Ranges, Former Light Quick Firing Battery is a Grade II listed building in the Southend-on-Sea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 April 1987. Light quick-firing battery.

Proof and Experimental Establishment, Shoebury Garrison, Old Ranges, Former Light Quick Firing Battery

WRENN ID
long-chamber-gold
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Southend-on-Sea
Constituency
Southend East and Rochford MP: Mr Bayo Alaba (Ind)
Country
England
Date first listed
28 April 1987
Type
Light quick-firing battery
OS grid reference
TQ 934 840
Coordinates
51.52212, 0.78761
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Proof and Experimental Establishment at Shoebury Garrison, specifically the former Light Quick-Firing Battery, dates back to the 1870s and was remodeled in the early 1890s. This disused structure features stock brick construction with an iron frame and 20th-century rendering on the upper part. It consists of two chambers set at an angle.

On the right side, there are massive piers with black brick quoins flanking the iron frame, which has three bays. A wooden door frame, currently without a door, is positioned between two upright girders that support the wall plate. The roof is iron-clad and barrel-vaulted, with a mantle rail above a blocked casemate, and part of the original plank floor remains.

The left side has been truncated and re-fronted in yellow brick, featuring a four-course relieving arch above a small wooden door frame. Buttresses at the left corner show traces of high brick arches that have since been demolished. This side also has a three-bay barrel-vaulted roof with brick infill and a 20th-century brick partition.

This structure is noted as an interesting late example of a casemate and is unique for being referred to as an "experimental casemate" in contemporary documents. A photograph from around 1896-1898 illustrates the arrangement of rifle muzzle loading guns on the pier.

Local climate

Proof and Experimental Establishment, Shoebury Garrison, Old Ranges, Former Light Quick Firing Battery receives an average of 830 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 54% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 81% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 7 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 4 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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