Group of 4 Second World War Coastal Artillery Search Lights

Four Coastal Artillery Search Light emplacements of 1941 (CASL Nos. 3, 4, 5 & 6), historically associated with the two twin 6-pounder emplacements at Fort Bovisand (qv.)

MATERIALS: shuttered concrete with steel grilles and doors to some openings. The emplacements stand on worked, cliff-face rock and concrete bases.

DESCRIPTION:

CASL No. 3 is rectangular on plan with an attached blast entry to the north. It is built into the early-C19 seawall and the bank behind. The south-east (seaward) wall is canted and has two vertical rectangular openings. To the rear are steps leading up to the fort, and within the blast entry is an intact steel door with three strap hinges. On the roof is a circular hole for ducting heat from a searchlight. The interior is split into two cells. There are electrical fittings of 1942 date.

CASL No. 4 is rectangular on plan with an attached blast entry to the east. To the rear are steps leading up to a platform, and further steps up to the fort. On the platform is a modern lighthouse structure. The south-east (seaward) wall is canted and has two vertical rectangular openings with grilles. The interior is a single cell with modern inserted tanks of breeze block. On the roof is a circular hole for ducting heat from a searchlight.

CASL No. 5 is rectangular on plan with an attached blast entry to the north-east. The south-east (seaward) wall is canted and has three vertical rectangular openings with grilles. The doorway within the blast entry has double steel doors, one of which is collapsed but in situ. On the roof is a circular hole for ducting heat from a searchlight.

CASL No. 6 is rectangular on plan with an attached blast entry to the north. The steps leading up to the fort road at the rear are obscured by undergrowth. The south-east (seaward) wall is canted and has three vertical rectangular openings with grilles. The low doorway within the blast entry had double steel doors, although one has been removed. There is an inserted cupboard fitted in the north-east corner.

Later C20 structures have been inserted within the envelope of CASL No.3, and on the roof of CASL No.4. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the later C20 structures are not of special architectural or historic interest. Furthermore, the paths and steps around the CASLs are altered and not of special interest, and therefore excluded from the listing.