Plymouth heritage battery set for public opening: what residents need to know

By Munisha News Desk

Contractors have been appointed to restore the historic Garden Battery at Mount Edgcumbe, moving the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park project into its next delivery stage.

The work is part of the Heritage Horizon programme, backed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Plymouth City Council. The restoration will conserve the long-inaccessible coastal battery on the Rame Peninsula and prepare it for public use for the first time in its history.

Garden Battery restoration team named

PLACE Architects, a long-running Cornwall architectural practice, will lead the design work. Chadburn Conservation Architects, an AABC-registered specialist conservation practice, will support heritage stewardship on the project.

Insite Projects will oversee project management, while TEC Construction (Holdings) Ltd has been named as the main contractor for the restoration works.

The project is being delivered with the Mount Edgcumbe Joint Committee, made up of Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council, with consultation involving The Friends of Mount Edgcumbe.

A coastal defence site dating to 1862

The granite casemated battery dates back to 1862, after a Royal Commission recommendation in 1860. It was built on the site of an earlier saluting battery and originally housed ten guns to defend the mouth of the Hamoaze and nearby channel.

By 1910, two searchlights had been installed in former gun casements. The site was among the early users of Defensive Electric Lights before the First World War and later formed part of the wider port defence network in both world wars.

The guns and lights were removed in 1927. The Ministry of Defence relinquished the site in 1946.

Public access and heritage interpretation

Plans include conservation works, curated heritage interpretation, community use and private hire. For visitors to Mount Edgcumbe Park, the scheme adds a new public heritage space alongside the estate’s formal gardens, coastline, cafes, independent traders and existing visitor activities.

Councillor Tom Briars-Delve said the project would preserve the building while creating “new opportunities for engagement, learning and sustainable commercial use”.

Cornwall Councillor Jim Candy said opening the Garden Battery would make the area more accessible to visitors from both Cornwall and Devon.

The wider Plymouth Sound National Marine Park programme is a five-year, £22 million scheme supported by an £11.6 million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, with match funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Youth Invest Fund and Plymouth City Council.

Source: Plymouth City Council

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This report is based on the published Plymouth City Council notice dated 1 June 2026 and names only the contractors and project details stated there.

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• Confirmed the appointment of PLACE Architects, Chadburn Conservation Architects, Insite Pr...
• Checked the stated Garden Battery history, including the 1862 date, original ten-gun role...
• Verified the funding context given for Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, including the...

Plymouth City Council Check wider coverage

Source

Plymouth City Council

Scope

Plymouth and the Rame Peninsula

Updated

2026-06-03 21:54

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Article contextPeople & topics3#7

Tom Briars-DelveJim CandyStuart McLeod

#Garden Battery#Heritage Horizon programme#Mount Edgcumbe#National Lottery Heritage Fund#Plymouth heritage#Plymouth Sound National Marine Park#Rame Peninsula

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