Penlee Battery

{{short description|Nature reserve in Cornwall, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox military installation

|name=Penlee Battery

|partof=

|location= Rame Head
Cornwall
England

|coordinates = {{coord|50|19|13|N|4|11|35|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

|image=

|caption=

|image2=

|caption2=

|map_type= Cornwall

|type=

|code=

|built= 1889-92

|builder=

|materials= Concrete
Earth

|height=

|used= 1892-1956

|demolished= Mostly filled in

|condition=

|ownership=

|open_to_public= Yes

|controlledby=

|garrison=

|current_commander=

|commanders=

|occupants=

|battles=

|events=

}}

File:Penlee Battery Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 36857.jpg

Penlee Battery is a nature reserve lying on the coastal headland of Penlee Point on the Rame Peninsula, in southeast Cornwall, England.

The site was formerly the location of a gun battery, constructed between 1889 and 1892. It was originally armed with two 6-inch BL guns and a 13.5-inch BL, the latter of which was the largest gun of the Plymouth defences. During World War I and II, the battery's armament was made up of three 9.2-inch guns.{{cite web |url=https://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/penlee.pdf |accessdate=17 October 2021 |title=Penlee Point Battery |website=www.victorianforts.co.uk }}

After the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom in 1956 the battery was disarmed and disposed of by the War Office. Many parts of the battery were demolished and gun positions filled in during the 1970s. One of the 6-inch emplacements remains intact, while the battery's magazines remain underground, but are filled in.

It is home to a beach revealed at low tide,{{Cite web|last=Chapman|first=Peter|date=2020-07-11|title=Golden beach hidden by the tide and its 67 ton military mystery|url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/local-news/penlee-point-stunning-golden-beach-4315165|access-date=2020-07-11|website=plymouthherald}} and is famous among dragonfly enthusiasts as the site where Britain's first Green Darner dragonfly was found, in 1998.Pellow, Keith (1999a) An influx of Green Darner Anax junius (Drury) into Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly - The First European Records Atropos No. 6 pp. 3-7Pellow, Keith (1999b) Common Green Darner Anax junius (Drury) in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly - The first British and European Records Journal of the British Dragonfly Society Vol. 15 No. 1 pp. 21-22