Old Needles Battery

Old Needles Battery is a former military battery, now owned by the National Trust and functioning as a museum. It was constructed between 1861 and 1863 following a Royal Commission Review of Britain's defenses, prompted by the launch of France's first ironclad warship, "La Gloire." The battery was part of a network of land forts, batteries, and sea forts intended to safeguard Portsmouth and Southampton.

The structure is built of brick with cement dressings and is accessed via a bridge featuring a cambered cement arch with a keystone, dated 1862. The landward walls are made of flint with brick lacing courses. The battery includes six semi-circular gun emplacements, a laboratory, guard rooms, and shell and cartridge stores. The barracks, officers' quarters, and artillery store have been demolished. The gun emplacements were enlarged between 1869 and 1875 to accommodate larger artillery, but by the 1890s, a new battery was constructed due to concerns that modern guns could destabilize the cliff, leading to the Old Needles Battery being used as a practice site. In 1899, a searchlight emplacement was added, consisting of a brick round-headed tunnel accessed by a spiral staircase leading to a brick and cement emplacement.

In 1913, Britain's first anti-aircraft gun was tested on the parade ground. Attached to the south is a signal station from around 1940, constructed of red brick with metal casements, which is now used as a coastguard station.