In the late Victorian period (1889-1903) mobilisation centres were constructed around the London area in order
to provide ready ammunition in order to defend the city. These centres
were not designed as forts themselves, although they could have been
armed if the need arose. Being a mobilisation centre, if the need for
armament did become apparent, the North Weald Redoubt would have been
armed with whatever guns were seen as appropriate at the time.
North Weald Redoubt is one of these mobilisation centres and it's
structure clearly shows it's purpose as an ammo store. Viewed from
above, the redoubt forms a rough D shape. The arc at the rear of the
redoubt is comprised of the magazines. The second building consists of
a caponier giving covering fire into the ditch and further casemates
known as the gorge casemates that could have been used to either
barrack troops or as further storage space for shells. Under normal
conditions this would have been utilised for the storage of other
equipment.
Within the magazine arc, each room is clearly defined as either a
cartridge or shell store and has excellent lighting provided from
multiple lamp recesses in each store. As in other similar magazines,
the cartridge stores were accessed via a shift lobby.
The redoubt underwent many changes during it's use and during the
Second World War it was fitted with two Allen Williams turrets. These
would have been used to protect the nearby Ongar radio station.
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