Hartlepool - Heugh Battery Museum: the only First World War battlefield in the UK!

The Heugh Gun Battery was built on the Headland in 1860 to protect the fast growing port of Hartlepool. But in December 1914, the Heugh Battery - and the nearby civilian population - found themselves under fire from German ships.
Hartlepool got another battering during the second world war, this time from the air.
Planning to visit the Heugh Battery Museum? Top Tips:
There's nearby on-street parking in a quiet residental area, or parking bays right outside the museum.
The entrance ticket for a family is about the cost of one adult ticket to the cinema.
Inside you'll find a nice courtyard cafe, with little sheds for inclement weather.
It's a small museum, so won't take all day.
If you're travelling from afar, combine a visit to the Heugh Battery Museum with a walk along the seafront at West Hartlepool, admiring the many historic homes and converted places of worship. It's easily accessible from the museum by foot and wheelchair/mobility scooter. West Hartlepool has a little park and a couple of fish and chip shops too for sunny days.

[@localhistoryvideos]

The Heugh Battery Museum has been awarded almost £500,000 for urgent works on the Scheduled Monument part of the site. The money to repair the gun battery comes from the Cultural Investment Fund and is to preserve the site of national archaeological importance. Located next to the Hartlepool headland, the Heugh battery played a key role on 16 December 1914, when the town was bombarded by German warships. It went down in history as Britain's only battlefield of the First World War Tom Gledhill, from Historic England, said: "It's such an important site from the point of view of recording history and remembering the history of the First World War. It's really important to keep this place open to visitors." Over the years, the saltwater of the coast and the amount of visitors to the battery has worsened the condition of the battery which was not built to last for over a century. ITV, March 2024

[@djsiimz]

I'm only in Newcastle and didn't no this was here😊

[@localhistoryvideos]

Same here! We went to Hartlepool to pick up some chairs and decided to have a walk along West Hartlepool. Really lovely old buildings along there, a couple of fish and chip shops, and an elegant little park. By complete accident on the walk we stumbled on the museum. Altogether, it was a cracking day out, and absolutely not what I'd expected given I was just collecting some chairs. The sunshine helped too :)