"Although the completion of the Stokes Bay Lines in 1860 had rendered the Browndown Batteries obsolete, there was a need for a battery to protect the deep water anchorage off Browndown Point and the new Browndown Battery was constructed for two 12.5-inch R.M.L.guns on the site of the old Browndown battery West, paid for under the Imperial Defence Loan of 1888 at a cost of £4,237.