Palmerston Forts Built Around Gosport

1860s

In the 1860s, a ring of forts was built around Gosport as part of the national defence programme ordered by Lord Palmerston's government. The forts were designed to protect Portsmouth Harbour and the naval dockyard from a French invasion that was feared but never materialised, earning them the nickname 'Palmerston's Follies'. The Gosport defences included Fort Brockhurst, Fort Grange, Fort Rowner, Fort Gomer, and the coastal batteries at Stokes Bay. Fort Brockhurst is the best preserved, with its moat, ramparts, and brick casemates largely intact. The forts were built to a high standard of military engineering, designed to withstand bombardment and to mount heavy guns covering the approaches to the harbour. The construction programme employed large numbers of convict labourers and civilian workers, and the completed defences represented one of the most significant military building projects of the Victorian era. The forts were rapidly made obsolete by advances in artillery technology, and most never fired a shot in anger. Several have found second lives as heritage sites, diving centres, or housing. Fort Brockhurst is managed by English Heritage and is open for occasional visits. The No. 2 Battery at Stokes Bay operates as a diving training centre. Together, the Palmerston Forts form a distinctive heritage ring around the borough.

Context

French naval expansion under Napoleon III created a war scare in Britain during the late 1850s, prompting the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom.

Impact

The forts defined the defensive perimeter of the borough and several survive as prominent heritage landmarks today.