Browndown Battery

guns[6] on the site of the old Browndown battery West, paid for under the Imperial Defence Loan of 1888 at a cost of £4,237.

[8] The rear wall (or gorge) of the old battery was retained and two sea facing concrete emplacements were constructed for the new 12.5-inch R.M.L.

The new battery had the usual shell and cartridge store between the two gun emplacements which were extended and enlarged from the old R.M.L.magazines.

A Battery Command Post and telephone room were constructed above the Artillery Store at the west end.

The guns mounted at Browndown and Gilkicker only cover an area accessible to vessels which have forced the outer defences, to do which such vessels would certainly have to be prepared to suffer the damage which the naval opinion, already quoted, considers sufficient to deter the attempt.

It saw a brief new lease of life when a lookout post was constructed on top of the east gun position as part of the training area used by the combined services hovercraft unit.

[14] Browndown Camp at the site was a barracks facility with an attached assault course and a 25-metre small arms firing range.

The fort itself was utilized in some defensive tactical training, but was too small for use in OBUA (Operations in Built Up Areas) exercises.

In 2009 the Ministry of Defence concluded in a review of its estates that Browndown Camp was surplus to requirement and it was closed.