# Godwin Battery and Spurn Point Defences visited April 08



## freebird (May 3, 2008)

Here it is as promised. Visited after RAF Holmpton when a few of us made a day of it. Firstly we stopped off at Godwin Battery and had a good nosey around. Godwin Battery is slowely being absorbed in to the sand and sea. The mounting where a very large gun was sited, is now at a very awkward angle with rusted rods still visable and is regularly climbed by visitors. The fort itself can only be entered at risk as there are large cracks running up the concrete and brickwork inside, which precariously over hang the beach.







Views from inside the fort





















Then on to Spurn Point defences. The old lighthouses both stand proudly although neither are used now and the defences are scattered across the whole area. Near the most recent lighthouse a very small tunnel leads in to a few rooms of a building now almost totally engulfed by sandy earth. Within one of the rooms, amongst the new graffitti, old graffitti can be found from the soldiers that were based there. Their signatures also bear their id numbers and dates.
















Spurn point defences are spread out over the area with old search lamp housings, gun placements and concrete rooms to investigate, the whole lot being slowely overtaken by nature and eaten away by the weather. This was like being in a different world altogether, travelling along the thin strip of land almost seperated from the mainland and arriving at quite a large area with a small group of dwellings, a coastguard station and the defences! 



















































All in all it was a great day and many thanks to those that contributed to this trip. It was good to meet you all. Thanks for looking.


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## Neosea (May 3, 2008)

Spurn Point is a great place, you really had a good look around. Thanks for the photo's


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## sqwasher (May 3, 2008)

You got some great pics that day!  The WW2 graffetti in the rooms off that tunnel was really cool-just a reminder of part of our history! Your fourth pic from the end is spot on!  I'll put some of mine up soon.


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## Foxylady (May 3, 2008)

That gun mount in pic 5 is blinking massive...some very interesting emplacements in the area. Excellent photos.


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## Kaputnik (May 4, 2008)

thanks for the pics, yet another place to go on the list for a visit, i think!


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## Bishop (May 4, 2008)

Freebird, nice pics and write up. 

FL wrote.



> That gun mount in pic 5 is blinking massive



Certainly is. The mounts are for 9.2" breech loading (BL) guns. Each gun would have required 11 men to fire, shell weighed 380lbs, range was something like 11 miles?

Few pics of 9.2" BL guns.
















English heritage page on the Godwin Battery.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100200300400200100d001


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## Foxylady (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for that, Bishop...I've been searching for gun mounts and couldn't find anything that looked the same. Now that you've said which gun it was, I checked in my military archeology book and came across this photo circa 1939.


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## Neosea (May 4, 2008)

Bishop said:


> Freebird, nice pics and write up.
> 
> 
> Certainly is. The mounts are for 9.2" breech loading (BL) guns. Each gun would have required 11 men to fire, shell weighed 380lbs, range was something like 11 miles?





Foxylady said:


> Thanks for that, Bishop...I've been searching for gun mounts and couldn't find anything that looked the same. Now that you've said which gun it was, I checked in my military archeology book and came across this photo circa 1939.



Excellent picture's and info guys.


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## sqwasher (May 5, 2008)

Here's a few of mine now i've got round to it...i've tried not to replicate any of freebirds & have just kept it to a few choice ones.....enjoy! 

View onto the beach at Godwin Battery





A B&W view of some of the defences





A different view of a large gun mount





A search light building as part of the Spurn Point defences





Finally Freebird & myself on a makeshift see-saw on the most southernly tip


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## Bunk3r (May 9, 2008)

A few of mine from the same day:
















my other pictures from the day here


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