Monument record 4386/0/0 - Searchlight Batteries in Cheshire

A number of Anti-Aircraft searchlight batteries that covered a large area of Cheshire. They were probably a part of the layout of searchlight batteries for Liverpool [CSMR: 4142/*] and many more batteries existed than those recorded under this number.
These positions have been found using various types of Aerial photos, along with some of those that have been documented in (1).

Early in the Second World War Anti-Aircraft searchlight Batteries came under the control of the Royal Artillery, with the Royal Engineers relinquishing control. The batteries themselves were under the control of Anti-Aircraft Brigades who also controlled the guns in the areas. The Brigades would contain Searchlight Regiments that would normally control four Searchlight Batteries each.

The sites were normally simple, with the lights being surrounded by a small ring-ditch, and with a trench or shelter for defence during air-raids. Some of the sites were provided with standard hutting and a few had Lewis Guns for local air defence.

As the ring ditch is the most common surviving feature it is important to know where these sites are as they can be mistaken for prehistoric features, with the clustered site looking similar to barrow cemeteries. (1)

From aerial photos and (2) it has become obvious that many of the batteries contain a clover leaf arrangement of earthworks, but this does not seem to be universal.

<1> C S Dobinson, 2000, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England: Supporting paper AA/1; Searchlight Sites in WWII (Report). SCH4458.

<2> D R Wilson, 1982, Air Photo Interpretation for Archaeologists (Book). SCH4524.

<3> Various, Aerial photographs, 1940s, Engineering and obliques (Aerial Photograph). SCH128.