Horse Sand Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Some 3.6 km south-east of Southsea Castle, in the middle of the Spithead channel, Horse Sand Fort raises its circular mass of granite above the waves. Along with its twin No Man's Land Fort, it is the largest of the four sea forts recommended in 1860 by the Royal Commission to deny an enemy fleet the approach to Portsmouth Dockyard, at a time when the growing power of Napoleon III's navy was causing concern in London. Begun in July 1861, interrupted from 1862 to 1864 and then completed in the spring of 1880, the structure rests on a ring of eight-tonne concrete blocks faced with masonry, filled with shingle and sealed by a concrete slab. Above, two fully armoured floors could hold nearly fifty guns, while the radiating basement concentrated magazines, kitchens and stores. Armed until 1951 and used in both World Wars, it was then abandoned. Unlike its neighbours converted into hotels, it has retained the atmosphere of a military time capsule; a museum project was announced in the 2010s but came to nothing. Privately owned, it is not open to the public.