Picklecombe Fort
Encyclopedia
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, a couple of miles west of the city of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. The fort has been a residential complex since the early 1970s but has a history dating back 150 years.
Founding
Fort Picklecombe was commissionedRoyal 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...
in the mid 19th century by Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, Foreign Secretary and then Prime Minister under Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. Being an island, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
was at risk from large scale enemy invasion by sea, particularly from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Palmerston ordered a series of coastal forts and batteries to be built in this area to defend the large naval base at Devonport near Plymouth. The coastal entrance to Plymouth is known as Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
, and was to be defended by Fort Picklecombe to the west, Fort Bovisand
Fort Bovisand
thumb|right|Fort Bovisand from the southFort Bovisand is a fort in Devon, England near the beach of Bovisand. It was built on the mainland to defend the entrance of Plymouth Sound, at the narrows opposite the east end of Plymouth Breakwater...
to the east, and a smaller fort on the Plymouth Sound breakwater. Fort Picklecombe itself would be defended from attack from the rear by a series of smaller forts and batteries positioned on or near the Rame peninsula
Rame Peninsula
The Rame Peninsula is a peninsula in south-east Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The peninsula is surrounded by the English Channel to the south, Plymouth Sound to the east, and the estuary of the River Lynher to the north...
.
Fort Picklecombe was built near an earlier earthen battery dating back to the start of the 19th century. Constructed between 1864 and 1871, the fort was armed with forty two 9-inch
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:...
and 10-inch muzzle loading guns
RML 10 inch 18 ton gun
The RML 10 inch guns Mk I - Mk II were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and monitors. They were also fitted to the Bouncer-class flat-iron gunboats.-Design:...
, which were mounted in a semi-circular arc of two-storey casemates faced with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
blocks and iron shields. In the 1890s, it was rearmed with two 6-inch breech-loaders and two light quick firing guns. It is interesting to note however that not a single shot has ever been fired in anger from the fort. The Palmerston forts’ lack of war action led them to be dubbed Palmerston Follies, the fact that they were a deterrent was lost on their critics.
20th century
Guns were removed from the fort in the 1920s but after the outbreak of the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it was reactivated and manned by the Coastal Artillery. Just down the coast to the west of the fort range finder and searchlight positions were made. The remains of these positions still remain today.
After the war, the fort was decommissioned and it stood derelict for many years. Eventually it was offered for sale to property developers and in the early 1970s it was converted to 103 residential apartments. The fort’s position overlooking Plymouth Sound and within the beautiful Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park is one of four designated Country Parks in Cornwall. It is situated on the Rame Peninsula, overlooking Plymouth Sound and the River Tamar....
make it highly desirable. A quiet rural retreat yet only a couple of miles as the crow flies from the urban sprawl of Plymouth.
A grand building, called the Officers’ Mess stands in an elevated position above the main fort complex. It is said that in order to meet the demands of the then landowner, the Earl of Edgcumbe, the officers mess had to emulate Warwick Castle, complete with towers and castellations. In the Spring of 2007 work was well under way to convert the Officers Mess into flats.