Site of Second World War HAA battery, TN7, Furtherwick (EHER 14734)

Now destroyed. A World War II Heavy Anti Aircraft gunsite known as TN7 (Thames North) Furtherwick located 170 metres south west of the junction of Cedar Road and West Crescent in an area of land known locally as The Gunney or The Gunnery. Four octagonal gun emplacements, a bomb proof shelter, a magazine bunker and a command post survive buried beneath earthen mounds which are now part of a children's playground. A further two square gun emplacements, an ancillary building and the gun crew barracks have been demolished to make way for modern housing. Scheduled.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: World War II anti-aircraft battery appearing as an earthwork on RAF aerial photos. Four gun positions. <1> Documented in contemporary records as "TN7 Furtherwick", a WWII Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun site N of Long Road on Canvey Island. Equipment and manning at the site is documented at various dates: 30 Apr 1940: Guns-4 x 3.7"(m), Regt-59, Bt-167. 2 Jun 1940: Guns-4 x 3.7", Bty-167. 20 May 1942: Guns-4 x 4.5", Radar-GL Mk II, Regt-2, Bty-11. 22 Jun 1942: Guns-4 x 4.5", Radar-GL Mk II. 9 Dec 1943: Regt-184(M), Bty-625. 15 Jan 1946: . An aerial photograph taken in June 1946 shows the site on fields south of the Winter Gardens. There are six gun emplacements - four octagonal and two square. The octagonal emplacements are in a semi-circle facing east. Each has internal ammunition recesses and an external integral shelter. Between the two southernmost emplacements an on-site magazine bunker can be seen. In the centre of the four is the command post. North-east and north-west of the semi-circle is a square emplacement with internal ammunition recesses. Approximately 150 yards to the south are the accommodation huts, around 20 in all. <2> - <4> December 1996 and April 1997. Site visits. This area is now almost completely built over. However, behind the houses between Cedar Road, Maple Way and West Crescent is a diamond-shaped tract of land grassed over and used as a sports and play area. This area has five very large, generally about 45 feet across, grassy mounds and closer inspection reveals that they are, in fact, some of the original concrete emplacements filled-in with earth grassed over. At least three of them show the top of the octagonal outer wall around the top of the mound and one has a dug-away hole in the top down to the roof of one of the inner ammunition recesses. A 1:1250 map shows a plan of the mounds and, comparing this to the 1946 aerial photograph, it would appear that the four octagonal emplacements (at TQ 78818374, TQ 78838372, TQ 78838369 and TQ 78818367) and the command post (at TQ 78808370) have survived and the two square emplacements (at TQ 78788375 and TQ 78848375) have been demolished. 150 yards to the S of the emplacements (at TQ 78818355) one of the original brick-built buildings still survives, as an ECC Activity Centre. It appears to be the last of the buildings and was the largest - approximately 120 foot long. It originally stood as the first of just two buildings to the W of the entrance road. Three photos taken of AA emplacements. One photo taken of surviving building. <5> - <7> August 1998. Site visit. The one surviving building has now been demolished and a new building stands on the spot. Grading dependent on survival/condition of buried emplacements. <8> January 2001. Scheduling. At the peak of operation there were six guns stationed at TN7, each mounted within shoulder high concrete enclosures, four of which were octagonal in plan and two square. Each emplacement contains a series of ammunition recesses and is flanked by an integral bomb-proof shelter for the gun crew. An on-site magazine bunker and the command post still remain buried like the octagonal emplacements under earthen mounds used as skateboard ramps. The two square emplacements have been demolished. The scheduling does not include the accommodation area for the gun crews as these lightweight barracks have been demolished to make way for modern housing development. <9> See also: <10> - <13>