Fort Nelson, Portsmouth
Encyclopedia
- This article is about Fort Nelson near Fareham, England. For other places with a similar name, see Fort NelsonFort NelsonFort Nelson may refer to*Fort Nelson, British Columbia, a town*Fort Nelson River*Fort Nelson, Hampshire, a fort in England*Fort Nelson , a fur trading post and the first headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company near Port Nelson, Manitoba.*Fort Nelson...
.
Fort Nelson, in the civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Boarhunt
Boarhunt
Boarhunt is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England, about two miles north-east of Fareham....
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill
Portsdown Hill
Portsdown Hill is a long chalk hill in Hampshire, England, offering good views over Portsmouth, The Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the...
in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. It is now part of the Royal Armouries
Royal Armouries
The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...
, housing their collection of artillery.
Description
Fort Nelson is a typical PolygonalPolygonal fort
A polygonal fort is a fortification in the style that evolved around the middle of the nineteenth century, in response to the development of powerful explosive shells....
or Palmerston Fort. It is six-sided with a deep ditch protected by three caponier
Caponier
A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" - which strictly means capon-cote i.e. chickenhouse.The fire coming from the feature A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" -...
s. Above each caponier is a well-protected emplacement for a 13-inch mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
s. It was originally entered by two Guthrie rolling bridge
Guthrie rolling bridge
A Guthrie rolling bridge was a kind of retractable bridge, an 18th century version of the drawbridge. It was commonly installed as the access across the narrow steep sided ditches characteristic of the polygonal forts of this era....
s and has a barrack block for 172 officers and men, protected by a V-shaped redan
Redan
Redan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack...
. A large open parade ground gives access to the magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
s 40 feet underneath it. There are open emplacements on the ramparts for 64 pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns
RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun
The RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun was a Rifled, Muzzle Loading naval, field or fortification artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately...
and 6.6 inch howitzers. There are also three Haxo
François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo
François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo was a French Army general and military engineer.-Biography:He was born at Lunéville and entered the Engineers in 1793....
casemates for 7 inch rifled breech-loaders.
History
Fort Nelson is one of five Portsdown Forts. Built as a result of the 1859 Royal CommissionRoyal 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...
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...
to prevent a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
land attack, on the Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
dockyard only 8 kilometres away, because the older Hilsea Lines
Hilsea Lines
The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built to protect the Northern approach to Portsea, an island of the coast of England which is part of the city of Portsmouth and its key naval base. They are now used as a greenspace and leisure area.-Natural defences:The island...
at the bottom of the ridge were considered insufficient. A series of 5 forts were built along the 7 miles (10 km) of the ridge. From west to east they are forts Fareham, Wallington, Nelson, Southwick
Fort Southwick
Fort Southwick is one of the forts found on Portsdown Hill, which overlooks the naval base of Portsmouth in the county of Hampshire, England. It is the highest fort on the hill, and holds the water storage tanks for the other forts, supplying them via a brick lined aqueduct. Construction was...
, Widley and Purbrook. The line was finished off at the eastern end with Crookhorn Redoubt and Farlington Redoubt. A garrison of around 200 volunteers
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...
accompanied by regular army officers would have manned the fort in time of war. Construction was protracted and Fort Nelson wasn't fully armed until the 1890s. The fort was disarmed in 1907 and then used for accommodation. In 1938, it was converted to an area anti-aircraft ammunition store; ten large magazines were built on the parade ground. Fort Nelson was abandoned in the 1950s.
Royal Armouries
Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...
for £50,000. Hampshire County Council restored it at a cost of £3-4million, and it opened to the public in 1994, becoming part of the Royal Armouries in 1995. It houses their collection of artillery, including:
- The 'Boxted Bombard', an English wrought iron cannon from around 1450, which was powerful enough to fire a 60 kg granite ball
- The 'Dardanelles Gun', a TurkishOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
bronze cannon from 1464 which was powerful enough to fire stone balls with a diameter of 63 cm - French field guns captured at the Battle of WaterlooBattle of WaterlooThe Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
- Fortress guns from India and China.
- Parts of the famous IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i 'Project BabylonProject BabylonProject Babylon was a project commissioned by the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to build a series of superguns. The design was based on research from the 1960s Project HARP led by the Canadian artillery expert Gerald Bull...
' Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
-era supergun. - One of the two Mallet's MortarMallet's MortarMallet's Mortar was a British siege mortar built for, but never used in, the Crimean WarThe mortar was design by Robert Mallet. It was constructed in sections so that it could be transported....
s. - Several SBBL 32 pounderSBBL 32 pounderThe SBBL 32 pounder was a smooth bore breech loading gun made by converting older 32 pounder 42 cwt smooth bore muzzle loaders. The conversion was first suggested in 1879 with the guns being issued over the following few years. They were used in caponiers to provide flanking fire to fortifications....
s
The fort covers around 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) and is open all year round, with no charges except for some special events. Live firing demonstrations are held every day, costumed guides, video presentations, and visitors are able to explore the tunnels that run below the fort connecting the magazines with gun emplacements. There are displays demonstrating the living and working conditions of the soldiers who manned the fort, and views over Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
, Hayling Island
Hayling Island
-Leisure activities:Although largely residential, Hayling is also a holiday, windsurfing and sailing centre, the site where windsurfing was invented....
and Gosport
Gosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
, with the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
beyond.
Sources
- The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson - Official Site. Page retrieved at 01:53am 5 May 2008.
- Portsmouth Naval and Defence Heritage. Page retrieved at 11.30am 29 July 2005.
- Fareham Borough Council page on Fort Nelson. Page retrieved at 12.20pm 29 July 2005.
- Portsdown HillPortsdown HillPortsdown Hill is a long chalk hill in Hampshire, England, offering good views over Portsmouth, The Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the...
article.