Grain Tower Battery was constructed between 1879 and 1855 of granite in an Martello tower style. Unique by virtue that it was constructed off shore on a mud-spit in the River Medway, and only accessible by foot along a (muddy) brick causeway at low tide. The fort was initially armed with a 56lb gun and a pair of 32lb canon. Fifty five years after construction (1910 – 1912), the fort was upgraded prior to the outbreak of WW1 to accommodate two 4.7″ QF guns. The next upgrade came in 1940 when the two storey barrack block was constructed along with the Battery Observation Post and a twin 6lb Quick Firing (QF) gun. The Battery has been listed since 1986 under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 for its special architectural and historic interest.
Below is a gallery of images taken in June 2017.
Grain Tower Battery showing the two storey barrack block constructed of red brick supported on reinforced concrete pillars.
The 1855 tower constructed of granite blocks externally, with internal divisions being in brick.
Lengths of the original Medway Boom, for which the tower was an anchor for the chain.
Construction date 1855 in the granite lintel above the main entrance to the original fort.
Original stone stairwell running around the interior of the tower.
Internal steel door and painted walls.
The final gun mounted here was a twin 6lb Quick Fire (QF) heavy gun.
The automatic shell lift which feed up two stories from the magazines within the main tower to the 6lb QF emplacement.
The automatic shell lift.
Within the bowels of the tower the ammunition would have been feed up to the emplacement above.
Range and direction finder room, with central concrete pedestal and steel shutter. The original steel door remains on this room.
The reinforced concrete four storey Battery Observation Post (BOP).
The two storey accommodation block.
Internal staircase within the accommodation block.
Obligatory peeling paint.
