Plymouth heritage battery set for public opening

By Beehive Web Newsroom

Published: 1 June 2026

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

The works will conserve the historic granite battery on the Rame Peninsula and prepare it for public access, community use and private hire. Plymouth Sound National Marine Park said the project is part of the Heritage Horizon programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Plymouth City Council.

Garden Battery restoration team

PLACE Architects, described by the project as one of Cornwall’s longest-running architectural practices, will lead the design. Chadburn Conservation Architects, an AABC-registered specialist practice, will support heritage stewardship.

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 from 1862

The Garden Battery dates back to 1862, after a Royal Commission recommendation in 1860. Built on the site of an earlier saluting battery, it originally held ten guns to defend the mouth of the Hamoaze and the surrounding channel.

The site was among those using Defensive Electric Lights before the First World War and was later part of port protection during both world wars.

Public access planned for the first time

The battery has remained a prominent but largely inaccessible part of the Mount Edgcumbe landscape. The restoration is intended to open the space to visitors for the first time, adding heritage interpretation and new uses within the wider park.

Councillor Tom Briars-Delve said the work would preserve the building while creating “new opportunities for engagement, learning and sustainable commercial use”. Cornwall Councillor Jim Candy said opening the space would make the area more accessible to visitors from Cornwall and Devon.

Plymouth Sound National Marine Park is a five-year, £22 million programme backed by an £11.6 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, 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 article is based on the 1 June 2026 Plymouth City Council announcement and keeps the project scope, named contractors and historic dates aligned with that source.

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• Confirmed the named restoration contractors and project roles from the source notice.
• Checked the Garden Battery dates listed in the announcement, including 1862, 1910, 1927 an...
• Separated the source location from the factual geographic scope, identifying Plymouth and...

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Plymouth City Council

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Plymouth

Updated

2026-06-03 21:46

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Article contextPeople & topics3#7

Tom Briars-DelveJim CandyStuart McLeod

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

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