Palmerston Forts, Chatham
Encyclopedia
The Palmerston Forts
around Chatham
, Kent
include:
Palmerston Forts
The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy, and...
around Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
include:
- Fort AmherstFort AmherstFort Amherst, in Kent, England, was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defence to protect the southeastern approaches to Chatham Dockyard and the River Medway against a French invasion. Part of it is now open to the public....
, technically a Napoleonic fort but later extended. - Fort BorstalFort BorstalFort Borstal was built as an afterthought from the 1859 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, by convict labour between 1875 and 1885, to hold the high ground southwest of Rochester, Kent. It is of polygonal design and was never originally armed...
, in the village that gave its name to the youth offender's institution The BorstalBorstalA borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools and Detention Centres. The court...
. - Fort Bridgewood
- Cliffe FortCliffe FortCliffe 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...
- Fort DarlandFort DarlandFort Darland was a Post Medieval Infantry Fort built from 1870 to 1900 as part of the defensive network for Chatham Dockyard. It was demolished in the 1960s and the site used for housing. Some earthworks and encasement remain and are visible on aerial photographs.During the Second World War Fort...
- Fort DarnetFort DarnetFort Darnet, like Fort Hoo was built on the recommendations of the 1859 Royal Commission on an island covering the inner navigable channel of the River Medway, Kent....
- Fort PittFort Pitt, KentFort Pitt was a fort built between 1805 and 1819 on the high ground of the boundary between Chatham and Rochester, Kent. It did not last long, becoming a hospital for invalid soldiers in 1828, with an asylum added in 1849...
- Garrison Point FortGarrison Point FortGarrison Point Fort in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was built on the recommendations of the Royal Commission report in the 1860s opposite Grain Fort to control the entrance to the Medway, Kent. It originally contained 36 Rifled Muzzle Loaders with calibres from 9in to 12in...
- Grain Battery
- Grain FortGrain FortGrain Fort was built in the 1860s on the eastern end of the Hoo peninsulato control the entrance to the Medway, Kent, England.All surface structures were demolished in the 1960s, so all that remains are underground passages....
- Grain Tower
- Grange Redoubt
- Fort HooFort HooFort Hoo, like Fort Darnet was built on the recommendations of the 1859 Royal Commission on an island covering the inner navigable channel of the River Medway, Kent.-History:...
- Fort Horsted
- Fort LutonFort LutonFort Luton was built between 1876 and 1892 south of Chatham, Kent, England. It has a polygonal trace. It was never armed, but took part in the war games held by the Army in the 1900s, including a trial siege in 1907...
- New Tavern FortNew Tavern FortNew Tavern Fort was built at Gravesend, Kent, England in the 1780s against the threat of invasion from France. It was one of the Palmerston Forts, also known as Royal Commission forts. The fort was extensively rebuilt by General Gordon about 1870. It was regunned in 1904...
- Shornemead FortShornemead FortShornemead Fort is a gun battery dating from the 1790s, built to support New Tavern Fort at Gravesend, Kent. It was redeveloped in the1850s to a pentagonal plan, one of the first "polygonal" works in Britain...
- Slough FortSlough FortSlough Fort is a small seven-gun Royal Commission fort built in the 1860s on the north of Medway, Kent near Allhallows-on-Sea. It is intact and being used as riding school stable....
- Twydall Redoubts, that includes Grange and Woodlands.
- Woodlands Redoubt