Modern gun battery.


A gun battery was constructed at Bankes' Howe in 1797, as part of a wider response to the threat posed by foreign privateers to the Island's coastline and its shipping. It was designed specifically to defend Onchan harbour, a sheltered open beach used mainly by fishing craft, and was part of a wider network of batteries protecting Douglas Bay.


The Bankes' Howe battery was designed for two 18-pounder cannon supplied by the British Ordnance Board. The battery platform was described as unserviceable by 1803, and despite repairs a further report in 1805 decribed most of the coastal batteries as not 'of much service for the general defence of the Island.' By 1812, the coastal cannon were reportedly unusable because of neglect and exposure.


The earthwork parapet can still be seen.