More damage to historic Victorian military in Shoeburyness

'Bunka crew' den,
originally uploaded by Julieanne Savage.

This is a photo of a Victorian experimental casement on a former military test range in Shoeburyness, Essex. The site was called the Old Ranges.

I remember first coming here for a nosy around, circa April 2000. At that point all you had to do was clamber up the old sea wall at the end of Barge Pier Road. I don't think the site had been sold to Gladedale Homes then, who have since desecrated it. This expedition was very difficult for me as I had just been involved in a bad motorbike accident and couldn't walk properly. I managed to climb up the old sea wall and get a look at this building, not really knowing then its significance.

This is the inside of an experimental gun casement known as LIght Quick firing battery. It was used in the late 1800s to fire shot out onto the sands. Since the Old Ranges site was sold off by the council, the developers have let several historic listed buildings like this go to wrack and ruin. Since I was last here in the summer, a huge chunk of the outer brickwork has been damaged and the whole structure is pouring with water. Southend council are doing nothing to protect what is left of this historic area and the few suriving remnants of Victorian military history are being ruined.