The Douglas Court House is a three storey building of cement rendered masonry which constitutes the north east corner of the intersection of Athol and Church Streets. The main entrance on Athol Street is marked by 4 Corinthian columns and their related podium. Beneath the columns the actual doorway treatment is somewhat obscure. The entire facade is characterised by this continued refinement on the first and second floors superimposed on a rather heavy and unrelated handling of the ground floor (pilaster columns of the upper floor are not always located above their equivalent column on the ground floor). In spite of this the corner is carefully detailed. No interior inspection has been made. The exterior of the building has been recently renovated. The adjacent properties have been 'annexed' as an extension of the present use but do not add to the architectural impact of the building.
The site of the 19th century gas works at South Quay, Douglas, known to have been operation in 1836 and shown on the 1870 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map.
Wooden painted plaque, with painted lettering. The plaque was originally on display at the Douglas Grammar School. The school closed in 1920 its functions being taken over by the Eastern District Secondary School. The plaque was acquired by the Manx Museum and National Trust in 1976.
Information provided by the Isle of Man Government Preservation of War Memorials Committee.
Bronze Age axehead.
A heavily corroded bronze axehead was found while digging a gas pipeline trench in 1979.
The findspot was approximately opposite the entrance to Raven's Cliff entrance, to which the grid reference relates.
The axe is of a narrow-bladed, flat-axe type, with a narrow butt, slightly convex sides, and an expanded cutting edge. No original surface is preserved and only an approximate outline survives. It is 117mm long, 45mm across the cutting edge, and the butt is 20mm across. On typological grounds it has been suggested that it dates to approximately 1650-1500BC.
The object is in the Manx National Heritage collections, accession no. 1979-0004.
Modern gun battery.
A gun battery was constructed on Douglas Head in early 1797, as part of a wider response to the threat posed by foreign privateers to the Island's coastline and its shipping.
The battery appears to have been designed as one of several placed around Douglas Bay to provide interlocking fields of fire from one end of the bay to the other.
The Douglas Head battery was designed to accommodate two guns, which are still present in a subsequent inventory of 1803, although the platform on which they were stood was considered unserviceable.
In 1813 work commenced on new batteries around the Island's coast, and the Douglas Head site was completed in 1815. By 1821 this had been re-equipped with two new cannon mounted on traversing rails. These guns were amongst the few left in place when the Island was otherwise stripped of its ordnance in 1822. Part of the parapet of the gun emplacement, a barbette of similar design to that constructed at Peel Castle, is still present.
This battery was in turn superceded by the construction of a replacement slightly to the east in 1861, the earthwork parapet of which is that shown on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8. The battery is variously described as being armed with two or four guns, and its timber construction to resemble the deck of a warship. An undated photograph in the Manx National Heritage collections (pg/7888/58) shows part of the battery with three cannon present; the walls of the older barbette are apparent in the background.
The battery was soon rendered obsolete by advances in naval gunnery, and from 1870 the local gunners received their training in Liverpool.
Modern gun battery.
A gun battery was constructed on Douglas Head in early 1797, as part of a wider response to the threat posed by foreign privateers to the Island's coastline and its shipping.
The battery appears to have been designed as one of several placed around Douglas Bay to provide interlocking fields of fire from one end of the bay to the other.
The Douglas Head battery was designed to accommodate two guns, which are still present in a subsequent inventory of 1803, although the platform on which they were stood was considered unserviceable.
The precise location of this battery is unknown, and it was replaced in 1815.
Modern gun battery.
A gun battery was first constructed on Douglas Head in early 1797, as part of a wider response to the threat posed by foreign privateers to the Island's coastline and its shipping.
The battery appears to have been designed as one of several placed around Douglas Bay to provide interlocking fields of fire from one end of the bay to the other.
Work on its replacement commenced in 1813 and was completed two years later, the earlier structure having been condemned as unserviceable in 1803. By 1821 the battery had been re-equipped with two new cannon mounted on traversing rails. These guns were amongst the few left in place when the Island was otherwise stripped of its ordnance in 1822. Part of the parapet of the gun emplacement, a barbette of similar design to that constructed at Peel Castle, is still present; the western half has been destroyed by quarrying.
An undated photograph in the Manx National Heritage collections (pg/7888/58) shows the walls of the older barbette in the background, with the new battery, commissioned to replace it in 1861, in the foreground.
Modern gun battery.
A gun battery was first constructed on Douglas Head in early 1797, as part of a wider response to the threat posed by foreign privateers to the Island's coastline and its shipping.
By the 1860s, a series of batteries providing interlocking fields of fire from one end of Douglas Bay to the other was no longer necessary, and a single emplacement was constructed to protect the harbourmouth.
The new battery stood slightly to the east of the 1815-1821 barbette, and its earthwork parapet is shown on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8. The battery is variously described as being armed with two or four guns, and its timber construction to resemble the deck of a warship. An undated photograph in the Manx National Heritage collections (pg/7888/58) shows part of the battery with three cannon present.
The battery was soon rendered obsolete by advances in naval gunnery, and from 1870 the local gunners received their training in Liverpool.
The site of a 19th century hotel on Douglas Head, which incorporates the original lighthouse tower (PRN 3775.10) on the headland. The building is now used as an apartment complex.
About 1816 the British Government erected a seamark tower (PRN 3775.10) on Douglas Head, which still stands but is now incorporated into a former hotel at SC387746 . There was no light provided until 1832-33 when the Isle of Man Harbour Commissioners erected a tower 104ft above high watermark at SC390747. This was visible for fifteen miles, or from the top of Blackpool tower. Responsibility for the light was transferred to the Commissioners of Northern Lights, on 1 August 1859. They rebuilt this lighthouse in 1892. As usual with their shore-based lights, there was adjoining keepers houses, now privately owned, while the light itself is now automatic.
A former sea mark tower which has been incorprated into the Douglas Hotel complex. It was built by the British Government as a seamark tower circa 1816, later replaced by a lighhouse (PRN 3775.00).
69 names listed alphabetically; Battle of Trafalgar. Rectangular stone with anchor-shaped stone alongside. Inscriptions in gold on front and rear face of stone. Gold anchor emblem on front face. Three legs of man emblem on rear face.
The memorial was unveiled on 29 June 2006 by the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Mann; Quilliam Chaplain and Douglas Port Chaplain. The memorial commemorates the Manxmen who served in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. It was sponsored by corporate donation and the cost of the memorial was £12,000 - £15,000.
The memorial consists of a sports field and a plaque. No names listed; Second World War. Metal plaque affixed to a stone pillar, on the right-hand side of the entrance to the football pitch.
