Displays at the Battery
The photograph on the right shows the display in the Fire Command Post, in the cabinet is an artillery range and position
finder. In this room are the concrete pillars on which a device such as this would have been mounted. This is one of many
displays at the Old Battery.
The Cartridge Store houses a visual display, recording the history of the Old Battery, and some inter-active games for the
younger visitor. The temperature of this room is fairly constant, on the hottest days it feels almost air conditioned. This is
achieved by the huge amount of soil on top of it and the clever ventilation system installed by the Victorian architects. The
Shell Store has a graphic display of events at the Old Battery during World War One. The uniform of the last Master Gunner at
the Old Battery is in a display cabinet along with other artefacts.
A room on the ground floor of the Port, War Signal Station has a display of items relevant the Second World War. A large map
showing the Allied landings on the Normandy beaches dominates the room. It is worth pausing and listening to the reminiscences
of Gunner Brown who was a soldier at the Batteries during this period of history. The Royal Engineers Office has a display
about shipwrecks on and around the Needles, the bell from the Varvassi hangs from the ceiling. The previous display in
this room, the history of the rocket engine testing on Highdown, has been moved to the New Battery. Models of the Black Knight
and Black Arrow rockets and of Prospero, the satellite successfully launched from Woomera in 1971, can be seen there.
No visit to the Old Battery is complete without venturing down the spiral staircase to the tunnel that leads from the Parade
Ground to the searchlight position that overlooks The Needles. The tearoom, on the first floor of the Port, War Signal Station,
also has panoramic views over this most westerly point of the Isle of Wight.