Why was it built?
The Old Battery dates from the early 1860s. It was part of a chain of defences built to protect the naval dockyards at Portsmouth on the orders of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. Britain was vulnerable to a sea attack by France, especially after the launch of the first iron-clad French warship, so something had to be done.
The Battery was surrounded by a dry ditch to prevent invaders climbing up from the beach. But the invasion never came, so the Needles Old Battery became known as one of ‘Palmerston’s Follies’.
Fort or battery?
Many of Palmerston’s Follies are forts - Bembridge Fort and St Helen’s Fort for example. A ‘fort’ commands a group of two or more batteries and has a permanent garrison of troops, while there are normally no permanent troops at a ‘battery’ such as this one. Both were important parts of our coastal defences.
Yet our Old Battery had an important part to play in both World Wars and the stories of some of the soldiers based here are now on display. Go down the underground tunnel to the searchlight emplacement to get a feel for what life was like here.
The end of an era
In 1945 both Old and New Batteries were closed and then decommissioned. The Needles Headland and both Batteries were bought by us in 1975. After a period of restoration the Old Battery was officially opened to visitors in 1982 by HRH Prince Charles. Now you can find out about life at the Old Battery, and at the same time enjoy an unrivalled close-up view of the majestic Needles Rocks.