Fort Amherst

En un regard

Le château en bref

Fort Amherst is the fortification that closes the southern end of the Brompton Lines, the bastioned belt built in the 18th century to defend the Chatham naval dockyard and barracks from landward attack. It originated in 1756, during the Seven Years' War, as an earthwork redoubt surrounded by a ditch, the Amherst Redoubt, rebuilt in brick from 1770. During the Napoleonic Wars the site was considerably enlarged: between 1802 and 1811 convicts dug a network of tunnels into the chalk cliff and built magazines, barracks, batteries and guardhouses. Completed around 1820 and armed with more than fifty smoothbore guns, the fort was nevertheless declared obsolete as early as December 1820. It was then used for siege exercises in the Victorian era, and as an air-raid warning command post during the Second World War. Scheduled as a historic monument in 1959, it was bought by a trust in 1980-1982 and is now managed by the Fort Amherst Heritage Trust. Presented as the largest Napoleonic fort in Great Britain, it welcomes the public all year round: free access to the grounds, guided tunnel tours, re-enactments, family events and weddings. It has served as a filming location, notably for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.