Bovisand Harbour is located in the beautiful area of Wembury in the sought-after district of South Hams, close to some of the the finest, sandy beaches and stunning countryside but only 7 miles by car from Plymouth, a town steeped in Naval history. Here the town offers bars, cafes, restaurants and no end of shopping along with leisure facilities, including theatres, museums and the like.
Close by is the Staddon Heights Golf Club. A superb 18-hole cliff top course with a Par of 70 and a yardage of 6164 yards. With excellent club house facilities this club is well worth its membership, with concessionary rates for Bovisand Harbour owners and tenants.
Two of Wembury's best-known country pubs are just a 10-minute drive or a 35-minute countryside walk away, The Mussel Inn in Down Thomas offers wonderful South Hams views and a fine selection of wines and beers. And down the coast in Heybrook Bay, The Eddystone Inn is the ideal spot to enjoy dramatic sea views, fine food, and a choice of local ciders – the perfect respite after the 2-mile South West Coast Path walk perhaps?
Access to the main roads is good with the A38 Devon Expressway just over 6 miles away. Exeter and the M5 junction 30, are around 45 miles away.
The History
Bovisand Bay has a long and illustrious defensive history and has been a site of strategic importance since the 16th-century up until after World War II when it was decommissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1956 . During the 1500s, the Royal Navy initially used the area as an off-shore anchorage. With a gun battery positioned on the high ground of Staddon Point, the ships were defended while replenishing their supplies.
After Staddon Point had been rebuilt in the early 19th-century, it was the introduction of the breakwater in 1841 that led to a series of new defensive Palmerston forts being built around The Sound, each providing essential wartime fortification to the exposed naval base in Plymouth.
Completed in 1847, the tiered, three-storey, Staddon Heights Battery featured a lower-level gun battery to provide cover for the eastern channel into The Sound, as well as barracks on the upper levels. Decommissioned in 1870, the Battery was used exclusively as barracks after the introduction of the newly-built Fort Bovisand a year earlier.
Conceived as an outcome of the Royal Commission of the Defence of the United Kingdom of 1860, Fort Bovisand was originally designed as a two-tier structure to feature 50 guns. By 1864, and after modified plans had been agreed, the fort would feature a single storey of 23 iron-shielded, granite casemates housing 22 9” Rifled Muzzle Loader (RML) guns and one single, 10” RML. Specifically designed, the casemates topped a lower level of magazines and tunnels for the protection of men and the safe storage of artillery ammunition.
To combat the development of torpedo boats in the late 19th-century, Staddon Heights Battery saw an upgrade to armaments with newer, quick-firing guns installed alongside the original battery. Meanwhile, the casemates were used as a control and maintenance centre for a minefield in operation between Bovisand Bay and the Breakwater.
During WWII, the casemates were re-armed with the addition of two quick-firing guns on its roof, with a further Bofor anti-aircraft gun added in 1943. Staddon Heights was also upgraded to include anti-aircraft guns.