Battery And War Memorial

Battery and War Memorial, Penzance

This Grade II listed structure comprises an 18th-century coastal battery and a First World War memorial, both constructed from granite and sited on a rocky outcrop overlooking Mounts Bay.

The Battery

The battery was built by Penzance Corporation in 1740, following a government grant of guns made on condition that the town construct a fortification to house them. The structure was completed at a cost of £200 in response to the threat of Spanish invasion, which materialised in the War of Jenkins' Ear declared in October 1739. The battery remained in active service throughout the 18th century and into the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), when it was manned by a volunteer company defending the adjacent harbour.

The battery consists of a heptagonal granite platform with a low retaining wall enclosing an area measuring approximately 14 metres north to south by 10.8 metres east to west. The walls are battered to provide protection against the sea. The structure is situated on the shore side of a rocky outcrop and is connected to the mainland by a stone-built causeway, from which a bulwark extends toward the South Pier. The causeway's original vertical laid blocks remain visible along part of the eastern side, with the bulwark surviving as a buried feature whose position is documented in early maps.

Ordnance Survey drawings from 1809 record that the battery contained three 24-pounder guns at that time. A contemporary print shows the battery equipped with a flagpole and gateway. By approximately 1870, the guns had been replaced with a small weatherboarded building, which had disappeared by 1909 and been replaced by two smaller structures in the northern part of the battery. A photograph taken in 1910 documents the battery with at least five cannons. During the Second World War, 4-inch Mark VII guns were placed on or around the battery, with additional Bofors guns and searchlights nearby providing harbour defence.

The War Memorial

The war memorial was unveiled on 14 May 1922 at the centre of the battery, designed by Sir Edward Warren and constructed by Messrs. W.H. Snell & Sons. Warren (1856-1937) was a prolific architect of country houses and churches, notable for designing the Imperial War Graves Cemetery at Basra, Iraq, which also features a prominent obelisk. The memorial was unveiled by Mrs Bolitho and dedicated by the Bishop of Truro.

The memorial is inscribed with the dedication "THOSE BRAVE MEN OF PENZANCE / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO / THEIR COUNTRY'S CAUSE AND / FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / OF 1914 - 1919". It comprises a square two-stepped plinth with a pedestal surmounted by a tall obelisk. Each face of the obelisk bears a cross pattée in relief towards the top and a panel containing an inscription below: the north face reads FOR GOD, the south FOR HONOUR, the west FOR KING, and the east FOR COUNTRY. The pedestal is surrounded by a low cast-iron rail, with a central recessed panel on each face. The northern panel bears a relief wreath containing the inscription PRO PATRIA, the south side holds a slate tablet with the dedication, and the western and eastern sides contain slate tablets inscribed with the names of 207 fallen servicemen.

The Jubilee Pool (Grade II listed) was constructed adjacent to and west of the memorial and battery in 1935. The memorial and battery stand beside this lido and adjacent to the notable South Pier, forming a visually prominent group within various views of the town.