Complex sentence: The British Board of Ordnance purchased land at Shoeburyness Essex on the Thames estuary in 1849 for an artillery testing and practice range; the first School of Gunnery was established here on 1 April 1859.
Split into simpler sentences: The British Board of Ordnance purchased land at Shoeburyness Essex on the Thames estuary in 1849 for an artillery testing and practice range. The first British School of Gunnery was established here on 1 April 1859.