The need for fortification at Beacon
Hill in Harwich can be dated back to Roman times, although it was not
until the 16th century that any buildings were constructed. The first
was a small blockhouse, abandoned after only ten years. A later second
blockhouse suffered a similar fate.
Serious construction work began in 1804 with the strengthening of the
entire southern and eastern coastal defences as a direct response to
the threat of Napoleon. A small fort was constructed, with the Harwich
redoubt close by. By 1812 a further battery had been added to the
defences on Beacon Hill. Unfortunately this battery was destroyed not
by enemy action but by erosion, and no replacement was built. In 1853,
following an extensive overview of national defences, the only area of
the Beacon Hill fortifications that it was deemed was worthwhile was
the redoubt, which was comprehensively rearmed in the 1860’s, in the
light of the renewed threat of French invasion.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the Beacon Hill defences
were considered obsolete and outdated, and work on a new fort began.
The enormous changes in warfare and weaponry radically changed the way
that the new fort was constructed, and the armament used to defend it.
Great care was taken to ensure that the fort could easily and
effectively be defended from the landward side, as this was the
direction from which an assault on the fort was expected to come.
The advent of aircraft and aerial attack during WWI brought about the
need for anti-aircraft artillery, which arrived at Beacon Hill in the
form of two one-pounder automatic guns. Following the Armistice the
fort was decommissioned and sold to the local council; all armament
was removed.
With the outbreak of WWII in 1939 it was clear that Beacon Hill had to
be reinstated as an active defensive fortification, but it wasn’t
until 1940 that construction work on the new Cornwallis Battery began.
This consisted of guns to repel naval attack, with the added
installation of a Bofors gun to provide AA cover.
After the war the guns were removed and Beacon Hill fort was finally
decommissioned in 1956 with the disbanding of all coastal defences.
Despite a sparse Cold War military presence in the 60’s and 70’s, the
site has now fallen into a state of total disrepair. To see the full size
pictures, right click than click on go full size.
Access is not possible, this is on
private land.