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477:. It is owned by Medway Ports Ltd, the operators of the Sheerness Docks, and is not publicly accessible as it lies within the port area. Some alterations have been made to the fort to enable its use in connection with the port. It was used for a time in the 1980s as a terminal for a now-defunct ferry service to the Continent, which involved fitting a walkway to the ferries through one of the casemates. A navigational radar control tower was installed on the fort's roof in 1962.
58:
252:, but a new generation of accurate and powerful guns, mounted on fast-moving, manoeuvrable iron-clad warships, had obsoleted the existing 18th and early 19th century forts along the British coastline. The Thames was seen as particularly vulnerable; as well as being one of the country's most important trade routes, it possessed several naval installations of great importance, including the victualling yards at
65:
275:, which published a far-reaching report in 1860. It recommended that many existing forts should be upgraded or rebuilt entirely, and that new forts should be constructed to guard particularly strategic or vulnerable points along the coast. In all, around 70 forts and batteries were constructed around the English coast as a result of the Royal Commission's report.
445:. One of them was mounted on the fort's roof and the other was situated outside the front of the casemates. New gun emplacements, gun towers, a magazine and a searchlight emplacement were all constructed at this time. By 1944 the threat of invasion or seaborne attack had diminished to the point that the fort was reduced to care and maintenance status.
462:
484:. Although the interior has been largely stripped out, traces remain of the original fittings. A considerable amount remains of the Brennan Torpedo station and its launching rails, though it is corroding badly. While the fort's structure is still basically intact its roof and much of its interior are derelict and decaying.
318:
further upriver. Two additional fortifications, the Half Moon
Battery and Cavalier Battery, were subsequently added to further strengthen the defences. The Royal Commission recommended that de Gomme's red brick fortification and the two later batteries, which were incapable of withstanding modern
347:
Construction began in
February 1861 and continued until the last of its shielding was installed in June 1872, by which time about half of the guns were already in place. The new fort took the form of a semi-circular structure, one of only two built in the 1860s fortification programme (the other
452:
as an emergency port control centre in the event of a nuclear war. Part of the fort's disused magazine was converted into a bunker housing nuclear defence officials. The fort was decommissioned in 1956 when the UK discontinued its coastal defence programme, and the structure was sold off to the
364:
were located below ground in the basement of the fort. The bulk of the structure was built of brick, with concrete additions. The walls and piers are 4.4 metres (14 ft) thick. The semi-circular row of casemates is closed off to the rear by a row of defensible buildings constructed from
409:
station, used to launch wire-guided torpedoes, was added to the fort's structure in 1884 and remained in use until around 1906. The RMLs were obsolete by the end of the 19th century and had been removed by 1896, when the casemates were all converted to barracks and stores. In 1909 two
219:. Built in the 1860s in response to concerns about a possible French invasion, it was the last in a series of artillery batteries that had existed on the site since the mid-16th century. The fort's position enabled it to guard the strategic point where the
231:
fort – one of only two of that era in the country – with a design that is otherwise similar to that of several of the other forts along the lower Thames. It remained operational until 1956 and is now used by the
Sheerness Docks as a port installation.
272:
278:
248:
The fort was constructed in response to a naval arms race between
Britain and France. Britain's coastal defences had not been substantially upgraded since the
356:). It had two gun floors, each with 17 granite-faced casemates, in which 36 heavy guns were mounted behind 2,000 tons of iron shields. Another two
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653:
751:
373:, with loopholes and gun ports in the flanks to facilitate close defence of the fort. A parade ground occupied the middle of the fort.
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guns, should be replaced by an armoured artillery fort on the same site. Its arc of fire would overlap that of
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A coastal artillery searchlight and concrete magazine were constructed to the east of the fort during the
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526:
Wilson, J.D. (December 1963). "Later
Nineteenth Century Defences of the Thames, including Grain Fort".
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Garrison Point Fort is reportedly in a state of "slow decay" which has led it to be listed on the
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298:. It was in the process of being replaced with a new fort when it was destroyed in the June 1667
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since 1977 and is part of the wider system of the
Sheerness defences, listed as a
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that no longer survives. Garrison Point Fort remained in service through the
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397:. By 1880 its armament had been expanded to include 9-inch, 10-inch,
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The government's response to the increased threat was to appoint a
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Saunders, Andrew; Smith, Victor (2001). "Garrison Point Fort".
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Map of the fortifications at the entrance to the Medway
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situated at the end of the
Garrison Point peninsula at
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Forts at the mouth of the River Medway, 1870 engraving
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Royal
Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom
528:
Journal of the
Society for Army Historical Research
294:was constructed there by 1547, during the reign of
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360:were planned for the roof but were not built. The
752:"Heritage At Risk Register - Garrison Point Fort"
418:were installed in a lower tier of the casemates.
290:Garrison Point had long been fortified. A square
282:De Gomme's fort (centre) alongside the Dockyard (
437:to defend against fast-moving attackers such as
730:"Exploring Kent's Past - Garrison Point Fort"
389:Garrison Point Fort was initially armed with
8:
513:Kent's Defence Heritage – Gazetteer Part One
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576:
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550:"Slough Fort and wing batteries (1021405)"
46:Garrison Point Fort viewed from the Medway
17:
414:were mounted on the fort's roof and four
335:) on the other side of the Medway on the
453:owners of the adjacent Sheerness Docks.
448:After the war, the fort was used by the
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412:6-inch Mk. VII breech-loading (BL) guns
395:10-inch rifled muzzle loader (RML) guns
227:. It is a rare example of a two-tiered
709:Research records (formerly PastScape)
592:Research records (formerly PastScape)
506:
504:
502:
500:
498:
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435:twin 6-pounder Quick Firing (QF) guns
7:
612:"Naval and Military Intelligence".
754:. English Heritage. Archived from
679:National Heritage List for England
555:National Heritage List for England
14:
63:
56:
40:
674:"Garrison Point Fort (1259029)"
588:"Garrison Point Fort (924100)"
815:1861 establishments in England
705:"Sheerness defences (420259)"
642:Foley, Michael (1 July 2013).
1:
648:. Sutton Publishing Limited.
469:The fort has been a Grade II
450:Royal Navy Auxiliary Service
416:12-pounder quick-firing guns
260:, the shipbuilding yards at
425:, along with a machine-gun
831:
785:Victorian Forts data sheet
433:and was re-armed with two
805:Forts on the River Thames
482:Heritage at Risk Register
465:Garrison Point Fort, 2008
256:, the armaments works of
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25:
780:Underground Kent article
343:Construction and layout
310:by 1669 to a design by
264:, and the magazines at
515:. Kent County Council.
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306:. It was rebuilt as a
304:Second Anglo-Dutch War
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245:
810:Grade II listed forts
732:. Kent County Council
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629:Chelmsford Chronicle
314:, who also designed
377:Operational history
198:Garrison Point Fort
104:51.4469°N 0.74441°E
100: /
71:Garrison Point Fort
21:Garrison Point Fort
616:. 2 February 1861.
475:scheduled monument
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329:Grain Wing Battery
300:Raid on the Medway
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655:978-0-7509-5331-3
236:Strategic context
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800:Palmerston Forts
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431:Second World War
371:Kentish ragstone
350:Picklecombe Fort
312:Bernard de Gomme
258:Woolwich Arsenal
136:Medway Ports Ltd
128:Site information
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109:51.4469; 0.74441
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333:Dummy Battery
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162:Built by
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123:Fortification
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760:. Retrieved
756:the original
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734:. Retrieved
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683:. Retrieved
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627:"Southend".
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559:. Retrieved
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316:Tilbury Fort
308:bastion fort
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221:River Medway
200:is a former
197:
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149:Site history
15:
534:(168): 182.
358:gun turrets
327:(and later
325:Grain Tower
302:during the
170:In use
107: /
83:Coordinates
794:Categories
488:References
443:destroyers
369:blocks of
321:Grain Fort
296:Henry VIII
292:blockhouse
286:, c.1775).
223:meets the
92:51°26′49″N
34:, England
362:magazines
229:casemated
209:Sheerness
202:artillery
178:Materials
173:1872–1956
141:Condition
95:0°44′40″E
28:Sheerness
354:Cornwall
266:Purfleet
254:Deptford
182:Concrete
762:19 July
736:19 July
714:19 July
685:19 July
597:19 July
561:19 July
439:E-boats
427:pillbox
399:11-inch
211:on the
186:granite
157:1861–72
652:
391:9-inch
367:ashlar
348:being
225:Thames
144:Intact
190:brick
154:Built
133:Owner
764:2015
738:2015
716:2015
687:2015
650:ISBN
599:2015
563:2015
441:and
405:. A
401:and
393:and
331:and
323:and
217:Kent
205:fort
120:Type
32:Kent
532:XLI
352:in
215:in
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571:^
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495:^
339:.
268:.
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689:.
658:.
601:.
565:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
