Mount Serapong 8-Inch BL Gun Battery
An plan of the 8-Inch BL Gun Emplacement overlayed on a 1950 aerial photo.
A copy of an original plan is on the right.
The Magazine (Cartridge and Shell Stores) as seen today differ from these plans. There are only two storage rooms, not four as shown in the plan. This could be because the plans were altered before construction or that alterations were made when the magazine was greatly enlarged to service the new battery of 9.2-Inch Guns which replaced the 8-Inch Guns in 1908-10.
LEFT: The No.2 Emplacement showing the location of the Expense Ammunition Store.
Centre: Excavating the Ammunition Store in 2006.
RIGHT: The Cartridge Store.
Each of the guns had an Expense Ammunition Store by its emplacement. Ready to use ammunition was stored there. In the centre photograph above, the Shell Store is to the left and the Cartridge Store is to the right
LEFT: The Casemates. The Lamp Room is on the left with the room leading to the magazine to its right. The Lamp Room, as the name implies was for the storage of oil lamps which were used in the days before electricity. The use of lamps was strictly controlled because of the danger of explosion in the magazine.