File:Godwin Battery, Kilnsea - geograph.org.uk - 304845.jpg

English: Godwin Battery, Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
One of the huge concrete bases of the breech-loading guns installed at Godwin Battery in World War 2. These guns were originally some distance back from the edge of the cliff but the North Sea has washed the ground away from under them.

Godwin Battery was originally built during World War 1, was a Territorial Army base between the wars and was rebuilt and reused in World War 2. In the early part of both wars the area around Kilnsea and Spurn was heavily populated by soldiers preparing for a possible enemy invasion. The batteries also defended the Humber against aerial attacks, first by zeppelins and later by mine laying aircraft and bombers. In the latter part of both wars when the main focus of attention moved to the continent the hospital and accommodation was a stopping off point for many recuperating soldiers. A military railway was built between here and Spurn to link the two important military sites and also make any new construction works easier.

In 1956 the Coast Artillery of the British Army was abolished and in 1960 Godwin Battery, its gun emplacements, observation posts, barracks, officers’ messes, hospital and railway terminal were sold and the site became Sandy Beaches Caravan Site. Some of the military buildings remained in use for a while but the Battery Observation Posts which towered over the site were soon demolished as they had become a dangerous playground for children. The boundary wall and buildings on the seaward side have already been lost to the sea and the rest of the battery seems certain to follow.

[ based on information from the Hidden Holderness organization and wilgilsland.co.uk http://www.wilgilsland.co.uk ]