Coalhouse Fort is a large casemate

Casemate

A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...

d fort in East Tilbury

East Tilbury

East Tilbury is a village in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock.-History:In Saxon times, the location on which the church now stands was surrounded by tidal marshland...

, near the modern town of Tilbury

Tilbury

Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...

, in Thurrock

Thurrock

Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) downstream from Tilbury Fort

Tilbury Fort

Tilbury Fort is on the north, Essex, bank of the River Thames in England and was built to defend London from attack from the sea, particularly during the Spanish Armada and the Anglo-Dutch Wars...

. It contains a museum of memorabilia from World War I and II.

History of the fort

Coalhouse Point was the site of an artillery battery, although nothing survives of this building. The fort was rebuilt in the 1860s following recommendations by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom

Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom

In 1859 Lord Palmerston instigated the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom because of serious concerns that France might attempt to invade the UK...

 as a coastal defence and was completed in 1874. The fort was built on low lying land in a curve of the river Thames at East Tilbury and was positioned there to form a "triangle of fire" between Coalhouse Fort on the Essex bank of the river and Cliffe Fort

Cliffe Fort

Cliffe Fort is a Royal Commission fort built in the 1860s on the edge of the Cliffe marshes on the Hoo Peninsula in north Kent to protect against invasion via the Thames. It is opposite Coalhouse Fort in Essex: they are 2 km apart. Construction was difficult due to the marshy ground and the...

 and Shornmead Fort on the Kent bank. It continued to serve as a defence to the capital through two world wars and was eventually bought by Thurrock Council in 1962.

During World War Two, rooms in Coalhouse Fort were equipped with instruments used to monitor the magnetic field of ships as they left the docks at Tilbury. This monitoring was to confirm the effectiveness of the individual vessel's degaussing

Degaussing

Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating an unwanted magnetic field. It is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, an early researcher in the field of magnetism...

 equipment. Degaussing is a process whereby the naturally occurring magnetic field of a steel hulled ship could be neutralised by fitting electrical cables around the hull and passing an electric current through them. The neutralisation of the magnetic field was used as a countermeasure against magnetic mines, which as the name suggests, are triggered by the magnetic field of a ship's hull passing over them. The monitoring station was staffed by Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service)

Women's Royal Naval Service

The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...

 working with civilian technicians. Cables were laid on the river bed and as ships passed over them, the magnetic field could be measured and (if necessary) adjustments made to the ship's equipment. The fort communicated with the ships by flags, Aldis lamp and in some cases by launch if the ship failed to stop. The Wrens and the technical staff were under strict orders not to discuss their work as degaussing was highly secret.

Armament

When completed in 1874, a single tier of armoured casemates and an open battery housed 20 rifled muzzle loading guns of 9

RML 9 inch 12 ton gun

The RML 9 inch guns Mark I - Mark VI were large rifled muzzle-loading guns used as primary armament on smaller British ironclad battleships and secondary armament on larger battleships, and also ashore for coast defence.-Design:...

, 11

RML 11 inch 25 ton gun

RML 11 inch 25 ton guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns used as primary armament on British battleships and for coastal defence. They were effectively the same gun as the RML 12 inch 25 ton gun, bored to 11 inches instead of 12.-Design:...

 and 12.5 inch

RML 12.5 inch 38 ton gun

The RML 12.5 inch guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and were also employed for coast defence.-Design:The gun originated from a desire for a longer 12-inch gun than the existing RML 12 inch 35 ton gun...

 calibre. By 1906, these were obsolete and were replaced by breech loading 6 inch

BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun

The BL 6 inch Gun Mark VII was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy traveling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, and also served as one of the main coast defence guns throughout the British...

 and 12 pounder

QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun

The QF 12 pounder 12 cwt gun was a common calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century. It was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick and used on Royal Navy warships, and exported to allied countries...

 quick firing guns. These served through World War I but were all removed by the 1930s.
In May 1940, the 5.5 inch guns

BL 5.5 inch Mark I naval gun

The Breech Loading 5.5 inch Mk I was a naval gun used by the British Royal Navy during both World Wars.-Naval history:This weapon was developed by Coventry Ordnance Works in 1913 and offered to the Greek Navy as main armament for two new cruisers building at Cammell Laird...

 were removed from HMS Hood

HMS Hood (51)

HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four s ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be...

 in a refit. A pair of these were installed in specially built casemates on the roof of the fort.

The fort and nearby buildings

Coalhouse Fort itself is partly surrounded by a water filled "wet ditch" (not moat) and a dry ditch as part of the defences from the Victorian period. Apart from wells and a water storage cistern, there are no underground structures at Coalhouse, (although there are tunnels running beneath it within its perimeter wall). As the fort is built on marshland, any excavations would be likely to fill with water.

Due south from the fort and close to the river is the remains of a quick firing battery. This was constructed in the early part of the twentieth century and originally equipped with 12 pounder artillery pieces. Further on down the river, at some distance from the fort, there are a number of defensive works. On the river foreshore about half a mile from the fort stands the remains of an early radar tower. This tower was constructed during World War II and was one of the earliest examples of its type. Because of the secrecy surrounding radar during World War II this structure was marked on maps as a 'water tower' to confuse the enemy and this 'decoy' name has been continued on maps up until recently.

In 1949, the fort was leased to the Bata Shoe Company

Bata Shoes

Bata Shoes is a large, family owned shoe company based in Bermuda but currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, operating 3 business units worldwide – Bata Metro Markets, Bata Emerging Markets and Bata Branded Business. It has a retail presence in over 50 countries and production...

 for storage and was purchased from the government in 1962 by Thurrock Council. The surrounding land was cleared and turned into a public park but the fort was kept closed.

As part of the Tilbury Riverside project, a pathway has been developed between Coalhouse and Tilbury Fort passing along the river bank and past Tilbury Power Station. This is known as the Two Forts Way. The path is just over three miles and is described as "a challenging route suitable for able bodied walkers and experienced cyclists."

Current status

In 1983 the fort was leased to voluntary group the Coalhouse Fort Project which aims to save the building from dereliction. Currently the Project is applying for various grants. More money for the fort will also mean it is able to stay open longer. The ultimate goal for the project is to restore the building as close as possible to its original condition.

Currently the fort is open for 18 days during the year but special group visits can be arranged. The fort holds a series of open days throughout the year and also has special events for Hallowe'en and Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

.

During its recent history the fort has been used as a location for TV programmes and films. These include the external shots of the prison at the beginning of Batman Begins.

Gatehouse redevelopment

In 2007, a grant was given to Coalhouse Fort by English Heritage and Thurrock Borough Council amounting to £125,000 to redevelop the gatehouse. The Projects plans for this block range from an interpretation room to a small shop. Work began on restoration in early 2009.

Park Trail

In June 2011, two interactive trails were launched as an iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 app known as Thurrock Mobile Explorer. These describe two routes around the park and provide information about the history and environment at numbered points.

Haunting

The fort was featured in a double episode of the 10th series of Most Haunted

Most Haunted

Most Haunted is a British paranormal documentary reality television series. The series was first shown on 25 May 2002 and ended on 21 July 2010. It was broadcast on Living and presented by Yvette Fielding. The programme was based on investigating purported paranormal activity...

- a TV show which the UK TV regulator, Ofcom

Ofcom

Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...

, has ruled is "an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal". The ruling also said that viewers of the show were not in full possession of the facts.

External links

• Coalhouse Fort Official Coalhouse Fort Project Website
• http://www.coalhousefort-gallery.com/ Coalhouse Fort Picture Gallery
• History, Description and Plan at Palmerston Forts Society website