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Puckpool mortar battery is a Napoleonic-era coastal defence fortification located on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire. Constructed during the early nineteenth century as part of Britain's extensive preparations against French invasion, the battery was designed to mount mortar pieces to provide defensive firepower against enemy vessels approaching the coast. The site represents the type of temporary or semi-permanent artillery positions that characterised the period's defensive strategy, reflecting the military engineering priorities of the Napoleonic Wars. Physical remains of the battery survive as earthwork features, demonstrating the practical construction methods employed for such coastal installations during this period of heightened national security.
Puckpool mortar battery is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1012721. View the official record →
Puckpool mortar battery is a Napoleonic-era coastal defence fortification located on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1012721.
Puckpool mortar battery is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1012721.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow on Nunwell Down known as The Devil's Punchbowl (5.5 km), Bowl barrow 370m east of Eaglehead Copse, forming part of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery (5.6 km), Two bowl barrows forming part of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery, and part of a field system east of Eaglehead Copse (5.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Puckpool mortar battery's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Puckpool mortar battery stands on Eocene claystone, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is claystone.