When most people in Inverclyde think of “Cloch” they will probably think of Clock Rd or the Cloch Lighthouse. From a historical point of view, Cloch Point Battery was a coastal defence battery used during WWI and WWII as part of the Clyde Coastal defence.
The Battery at Clock Point dates back to 1916. Its primary purpose was to oversee the Cloch Boom. The Cloch Boom was a “net” that spanned the River Clyde between the towns of Gourock and Dunoon.
The boom’s purpose was to prevent unauthorised vessels from proceeding upriver. It was also a deterrent to German U-boats that could have targeted ships, dockyards, harbours and other strategic sites had they been able to access the Clyde.
The Clyde boom proved very effective and there are no valid reports that any enemy craft (ships or U-boats) were able to get through the boom defence.
Cloch Point had a counterpart on the opposite bank of the river called Ardhallow Battery. Toward Battery was also on the opposite bank but a couple of miles to the south. Toward was responsible for monitoring an anchorage point where vessels would wait for clearance to pass through the boom. Vessels would be checked and verified before the boom was opened and the instruction to proceed was given.
When driving along the Clock Road there are a number of features of the battery that are pretty much hidden in plain sight.
Next to Cloch Rd, there are two former searchlight positions and a watch post. One of the searchlight positions appears to be fully intact. The 2nd has been demolished down to a few feet from the ground and converted into a viewing area. The top of the walls has been topped with decorative stones.
Choch Point Battery had two gun emplacements located close to the top of the site. Today there are only visible remains of one such gun position. The development of the Cloch Caravan Park has led to much of the battery being lost, but if you look around you can still see traces of its past.
Today, the most substantial remains left from the battery are a watchpoint and a fire control room located in an area of woodland to the south of the caravan park. These buildings are of standard military construction and are largely intact.
The lower-most building was a watch position. During the period when it was operational, there would have been very little in the way of vegetation or trees growing on the hillside. As a result, it would have had an excellent view down to the Cloch Shore and over the boom defence.
Slightly further uphill from the lookout buildings you will find another structure. This was the fire control building where the command to fire would have been given. The Fire control building is built across two levels. Due to the slope, the lower floor is below ground level on the east side but is above ground on the west. The lower level has a substantial concrete plinth mounted through the floor. This was the support for the range-finding equipment.
The fire control building would have relayed the target’s range and direction to the gun positions that were present at the battery.
Another structure that has largely survived to this day is the magazine. The magazine was used to store ammunition for the guns. It has been backfilled and is not accessible but is easily recognisable.
There are currently two very large water storage tanks built on top of the magazine. It is unlikely this dates back to the period when the battery was in service. The battery had its own water supply coming from a small dam located to the south of the site. The current tank may have been placed there when the caravan park was being developed. It is possible that the tanks may have been repurposed from Gourock train station.
The tanks are of modular construction and can be bolted together to form the required height, length and width. The panels are pressed steel plates with a prominent “X” structure to provide strength. This design was commonly used by British Rail and the Ministry of Defence. The same style of tank can still be found at various UK military sites such as older airfields.
The overall layout of Cloch Battery appears to have altered in some ways between WWI and WWII. Many of the maps that are available online through the National Library of Scotland do not appear to be accurate. This may not be a “fault” with the maps, it might have been a deliberate act. If a copy of the map were to fall into the wrong hands it could be very bad news for the security of the battery.
In the above example, I have placed a red do where the entrance road is displayed. This is too far south. The entrance is quite a distance from here. The map also shows a tramway. The tramway is shown as being north of the entrance road In reality the tramway was south of the entrance road.
Some maps do not show the tramway, this leads us to one of two possibilities. The tramway was added at a later date or it never existed. We have been unable to locate much information about the tramway and have not even been able to prove it even existed. The main piece of supporting evidence for the tramway is a small section of Ministry of Defence style fencing, located close to the starting point of the tramway (as shown on maps).
The battery at Cloch Point was built in 1916. It was in full use during the First World War. It remained staffed and in service between the wars and was fully activated once again in 1938. In 1944 Cloch Battery was put into a state of care and maintenance. The site was never used again.
Currently, the entire site falls within Cloch Caravan Park.