Plymouth Blockhouse, Mount Batten

In the civil parish of Plymouth.
In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Plymouth; City of, 1974 county of Devon).

Round artillery tower of three storeys was built on the headland of Mount Battern perhaps between 1645-60 as part of the defences of Plymouth Sound. It is a circular stone tower 9.1m high, 14m in diameter, and with walls approximately 1m thick; it has a castellated parapet with embrasures for ten guns. There doesn’t seem to be any pre 1600 use of this site and I don’t know why King included this site.

This site has been described as a;
Artillery Fort.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Questionable.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 473638)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX48645325

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 437581

Books

Duffy, Michael, 1999, 'Coastal Defences and Garrisons 1480-1914' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p158-60
Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p76
Pye, Andrew and Woodward, Freddy, 1996, The historic defences of Plymouth (Exeter: Exeter Archaeology Fortress Study Group South West) p136
Pevsner, Nikolaus and Cherry, Bridget, 1989, Buildings of England: Devon (Harmondsworth) p649
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1
RCHME, 1963, Monuments threatened or destroyed: a select list: 1956-1962 (HMSO) p32

Journal Articles

1883, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol39 p329

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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