Yaverland Battery was built between April 1861 and March 1864 and armed with eight of the 7-inch Armstrong RBL guns. The cost of construction was some £15,183. It was one of the three batteries recommended in the 1859 Royal Commission for the Sandown area along with Sandown Barrack and Redcliffe Batteries. The battery had barracks for fifty seven men, including two officers. The complete battery was protected by a dry moat and Carnot wall. There were two caponiers covering the front of the battery, and two small caponiers projecting from the barracks to help protect the land approaches.
By 1879 the eight 7-inch RBL guns were replaced by eight 64-pdr RML guns. In 1887 the 64-pdr on the left of the gun line was removed to build a traverse. This was to protect the battery from enfilade fire from an ship in the area of Culver Down. Culver Down Battery was later built to negate this risk.
The whole battery was remodelled between 1898 and 1900 at a cost of £6,131 to mount three 6-inch Mark VII BL guns. This was reduced to two 6-inch BL guns in 1915. Two defence electric lights were built, one on the cliff in front of the force to the East and another at Sandown Fort.