At the very tip of the headland there is a battery (an armed area with large guns, smaller then a fort). The one on the very tip is known as the Old Battery and looks out over the Needles (huge chunks of chalk jutting out of the ocean, and the Needles Lighthouse....which wasn't automated until 1994). The Old Battery was originally used to protect the Solent (area of the English Channel between the Isle of Wight and the mainland) from the French and was built in the early 1860s. The Old Battery was used to protect England all the way up until the end of the Second World War. Soldiers were stationed here throughout both world wars to spot e-boats with a spotlight (added in 1899) and help to spot coming air raids. It was a bit of a terrifying time being stationed at the Old Battery and they were very isolated from the rest of the isle. While visiting we heard a terrifying story of two young guards on watch whose job it was to walk around the outer areas of the Battery who happened to not show up for the guard switch. It turns out they had been swept off the side of the cliff by a gust of wind and sucked out to sea (this made the idea of walking back down the coastal trail even more terrifying).
Guns on parade at the Old Battery
The stairs heading to the tunnel that leads to the spotlight.
The Original Searchlight (a little corroded from being exposed to the salty air)
The Needles and the Needles Lighthouse (not automated until 1994, the lighthouse keepers would be stuck out here for 2 months straight!)
Views of the cliffs from the North Lookout at the Old Battery
View of the Parade and the New Guard offices (built in the 1940s)
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