Polhawn Fort

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Polhawn Fort

Polhawn Fort is a former coastal fortification in the county of Cornwall in Great Britain . The former fort, protected as a Grade II * cultural monument, is located at Queener Point on the southeastern tip of the Rame Peninsula at the eastern end of Whitsand Bay , 500 m west of the hamlet of Rame and 500 m north of the headland of Rame Head . The fort was never engaged in combat.

history

The fort was built as Polhawn Battery on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Defense of the United Kingdom as part of the new fort belt around Plymouth from 1861 to 1865 to protect the port of Plymouth and the Devonport naval base . The design comes from the British officer Edmund Du Cane . The fort was planned as a single gun emplacement to repel enemy landings in Whitsand Bay. It was connected to the Tregantle Fort further to the west by a road, today's Military Road . The original armament consisted of 7 68 pounders. Because of the feared threat from the new French ironclad ships such as the La Gloire , modernization and equipping with more powerful coastal guns were proposed as early as 1869 , but it was not until 1885 before the outdated cannons were replaced by 7 64 pounder RML guns. However, these muzzle-loaders also quickly became obsolete and were dismantled again in 1898. After that, the fortification was no longer equipped with modern guns, but served as accommodation for the gun crews of the nearby Whitesand Bay Battery and as a detention cell during the First World War . The fortification was sold in 1927 and used as a hotel and café in the 1930s. Since that time it has been called Polhawn Fort. During the Second World War, the complex was converted into apartments. Since 1988, the former fort has served as an exclusive guest house, which can be rented primarily for hosting wedding celebrations.

investment

The fort was built on a steep, bushy slope. The complex consists of a two-storey casemate made of limestone and clad with granite , the inner walls of which are made of bricks. On the land side, the fort is protected by a moat and a small ravelin ; access is via a drawbridge . The interior has not changed much since 1865, the upper floor served as a gun battery, the lower floor as a storage room and accommodation.

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 19 ′ 19.2 ″  N , 4 ° 13 ′ 12 ″  W.