Brixham Battery

Brixham Battery and Battery Gardens are an open space on the sea shore in Brixham, Devon at. They are a traditional observation point for Brixham trawler races, both past and present.The 14acre site of Battery Gardens was first used as a battery in 1586 during the war between England and Spain. The Battery was not permanently armed but was certainly 'active' throughout the American War of Independence during the 1780s and the Napoleonic War against France during the first decade of the 19th century. The Battery was also used by the Coast Guard for gunnery training during the 1870s.All that can be seen today was built from June – September 1940 immediately following the defeat and evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk after the fall of France.Of the 116 Emergency Batteries built in 1940 from John O'Groats to Kent, to Lands End, and to South Wales only 7 remain. Of these Brixham battery is the most complete. English Heritage had surveyed the whole site and it is now a scheduled monument.The Battery "Battery" is a category of artillery weapons and the soldiers who operate them. The World War II coast and defence batteries had two main guns, anti-aircraft weapons and, in the case of Brixham, extra harbour defence guns.