Kent’s Gun Sites: The Battery That May Never Have Had Guns

One county, several threats

Four guns were planned for a battery—a group of gun positions—on Sheppey. They may never have arrived. Historic England says the site east of Harty Ferry Road may never have been armed. The remains show where guns were meant to stand, not proof that they fired from there.

Kent’s batteries had faced earlier threats too. Lodge Hill was built in 1913–1914 to protect naval ammunition stores at Chattenden and Lodge Hill against airships. Historic England describes it as one of Britain’s earliest permanent anti-aircraft sites.

The site was reused during the Second World War. Its gun positions, stores and crew rooms belong to a longer history than one wartime building programme. At Cobham and Swingate, later defences served different needs again.

• Historic England — Lodge Hill Anti-aircraft Battery ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13
• Historic England — Cold War Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery lying on land to east of Harty Ferry Road ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Cobham’s wartime battery

By February 1940, a battery called TS15 stood at Cobham. It formed part of the Thames and Medway defences. Historic England records four 4.5-inch guns in a half-circle, with a command post and ammunition stores.

The command post was where orders could be passed to the guns. A camp housed the crew between shifts. Much of the camp was later knocked down, so the protected remains cover only part of the wartime site.

• Historic England — World War II Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsite (TS15), 250m east of Cobhambury Farm ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Did the guns ever arrive?

A later battery stood east of Harty Ferry Road on Sheppey. It does not appear in air photos from 1946, but it is visible by February 1953. That places it after the Second World War.

The design included four 3.7-inch gun positions. Historic England says the battery may never have been armed. We have found no confirmed firing record, so the planned weapons cannot be treated as installed guns.

The record also describes a command post and generator building. These served the planned battery, but they do not establish that its guns were installed.

• Historic England — Cold War Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery lying on land to east of Harty Ferry Road ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13

Watching for a new threat

Swingate’s job was to gather information. Its record includes radar buildings from 1936–1938. Radar helped detect aircraft. The same record includes an underground Royal Observer Corps post from 1962.

The later post was used for nuclear monitoring. It did a different job from the earlier radar station. Sharing a site does not mean the two systems worked together.

• Historic England — Swingate radar receiver site and monitoring post ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-22

An older defence you can visit

We have not confirmed public entry to these four sites. Upnor Castle offers a visit into an earlier part of Kent’s gun-defence history.

English Heritage dates its beginnings to 1559, with more building work in 1599–1601. It protected Chatham’s naval interests long before aircraft or airships appeared.

The programme checked on 13 September 2026 offered guided tours on the last Sunday of each month until October. Confirm a date and booking before travelling. Upnor offers a public visit to an older gun-defence site; the other places in this guide need separate access checks.

• English Heritage — Upnor Castle visitor information ↗ · reviewed 2026-09-13