07/06/2025
DID YOU KNOW? Weston-super-Mare : Steep Holm’s Battle-Scarred Cannons..
Just off Weston-super-Mare’s coast, the rugged island of Steep Holm looms like a fortress in the Bristol Channel.
Did you Know? This tiny speck was once bristling with firepower? In the 1860s, with Napoleon III’s French navy eyeing Britain, ten massive 7-inch rifled muzzle-loading cannons were hauled up Steep Holm’s cliffs by gritty soldiers to guard WsM and Bristol from invasion. Each cannon could lob 112-pound shells miles across the water, a fearsome sight from our shores!
During WWII, Steep Holm was armed again with anti-aircraft guns, including a 40mm Bofors gun, its rapid-fire blasts echoing as it fended off Luftwaffe bombers targeting the West Country.
But by the 1920s, the Victorian cannons were obsolete, outpaced by modern warships, and left to rust.
The WWII guns were decommissioned after 1945, and by the 1950s, the Ministry of Defence abandoned Steep Holm, leaving its batteries to crumble.
In 1976, the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust took over, turning the island into a nature reserve where nine of those mighty Victorian cannons and the Bofors gun still stand, weathered relics among cliffs and wildflowers.
Book a boat trip with Bay Island Voyages from WsM’s Knightstone Quay at www.bayislandvoyages.co.uk—grab your spot to explore this historic gem!
https://www.steepholm.online
Have you ever been? Post some pictures from your trip in the comments!
Will you be going now?
