The New Battery

The New Battery was built further up the cliff in the 1890s with the fear that the new and heavier guns would cause the chalk cliffs to collapse at the Old Battery. It was mostly used for ammunition storage as well as administrative purposes until the end of the second world war.
From 1956 until the 1970s it was used as a testing site for rockets. Until I visited the headland I had absolutely no idea that Britain had even taken part in the space race. Apparently (according to this place anyways) at one point they were ahead of Russia and the United States. The site was used to test the Black Arrow and Black Knight rockets before they were shipped to Australia for launch. It was a very secretive project which is why it took place in such an isolated area. It all came to an end when the British government decided that there was "no future" for launching satellites into space and the project was scrapped.

The old control room (in a former ammo store room)

The old rocket testing sites along the south side of the headland (so all the stink and fumes would blow towards France! HAHA!)