Spitbank Fort
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| Location: | United Kingdom | ||
| Specialty: | British coastal defense fort | ||
| Next city: | Portsmouth | ||
| Surface: | 0.001,696 km² | ||
| Founding: | 1887 | ||
Spitbank Fort , also known as Spitsand Fort , Spit Sand Fort or simply Spit Fort , is one of the four sea forts in the Solent off Portsmouth , Hampshire ( England ), built by the Royal Commission in 1859 .
history
Construction began in 1861, with Captain E. Steward ( Royal Engineers ) supervising the building . However, work was stopped in the spring of 1862 to revise the defense plans for the Solent and the approaches to Portsmouth Harbor. Work resumed in 1867 and completed in 1878. This type was named Palmerston forts after their designer . The task was to defend the port entrance of Portsmouth and the Spithead . The fort was an artillery fort for anti-naval combat and was armored on the front with steel plates. These were designed by Captain Inglis of the Royal Engineers and consisted of 25 inch (63.5 cm) thick plates made of wrought iron , which were attached in a sandwich construction and should withstand all ship guns of the time. "Spit Fort" is smaller than the main forts Horse Sand Fort and No Man's Land Fort and was in the second line with the task of fighting enemy ships that had broken through at the two main forts. It is circular and 162 feet (about 54 meters) in diameter at the base. It had a battery and a basement. The ammunition depot, kitchen and storage rooms were housed in the basement. An artesian well served for fresh water supply from 1877 onwards , which encountered fresh water at 401 feet (about 133 meters). In the battery deck, Spitbank Fort is divided in half from the base, while the front semicircle was equipped with the armor plates and the heavy guns, the rear consisted only of brick masonry faced with granite stones, into which the 7-inch cannons were integrated. The roof of the fort was made of concrete. Two bedrooms for eleven men each, one room for two sergeants and another room for two officers were available for the peacekeeping crew . The "Spitbank Fort" is built on a ring of concrete blocks that are arranged in the manner of the brick construction. This ring is in turn clad on the outside with granite blocks. The inside of the ring has been filled with clay and gravel and sealed with a thick concrete cover. The foundation walls are 19.6 meters thick. The cannons, ammunition and other necessities for the crew were housed on the floors. On the ceiling of the fort there is a lighthouse, as well as various chimneys and fans. Access is via a wooden-covered entrance that stands on cast-iron pillars. The cost of construction was £ 167,300.
Armament
For armament, nine 10 inch (25.4 cm) and 18 ton rifled muzzle- loaders were provided for the seaside and six 7 inch (17.78 cm) rifled muzzle -loaders for the rear . This plan was then abandoned and instead nine 12.5 inch (317.5 mm) and 38 ton towed muzzle loaders were installed on the sea side. These were replaced in 1884 by more modern 12 inch "Mk I - VII naval guns" (30.48 cm), which remained in service until after the First World War .
In 1898 the task of the fort changed and it was now primarily intended to combat light naval forces. For this purpose, two 4.7-inch (11.9-cm) guns (until 1921 and then again from 1926 to 1938) and headlights were placed on the top. In 1905, all but three of the heavy artillery pieces were removed and two 6-inch (150-mm) cannons were installed on the top, where they remained until 1916. One of these cannons was then set up again in 1931 and remained there until 1948. During the Second World War , two machine guns were added for close-range defense and a 40 mm Bofors cannon (until 1945) for anti-aircraft defense . In the same year the crew was withdrawn. The coastal defense was abandoned in 1956 and the headlights and generators removed the following year.
Todays use
In 1962 the fort was decommissioned, in 1982 abandoned by the Ministry of Defense as a military property and sold to Sean Maguire. It was used for various civil purposes from then on. The building had a museum, a dance hall, a restaurant and another 50 rooms. However, personal comfort at these events was severely limited in accordance with the previous terms of use of the fort. From June 4, 2002, the fort was used as a location for the British television production Banged Up With Beadle . An episode of the television series Most Haunted was also filmed here. In the summer of 2009, the Coalition Festival and other psytrance and hard dance events took place in “Fort Spit” .
It was put up for auction in 2009 for £ 800,000 but sold for over £ 1 million before the auction closed.
It is now owned by Clarenco Properties Group (previously owned by Horse Sand Fort and No Man's Land Fort ), has been renovated and is now used as a hotel.
Individual evidence
- ^ IV Hogg, LF Thurston: British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. Ian Allan, London 1972, ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1 , pp. 188-189.
- ↑ Overload , Harder Faster.
- ↑ "£ 800k continued for sale ... lovely sea views" , The Sun , 12 October 2009, Accessed 12 October, 2009.
- ^ "Sea fort put on the market for £ 800,000" , Metro , October 12, 2009, accessed October 12, 2009.
- ↑ Historic Spitbank Fort sells for £ 1m , Daily Telegraph , November 4, 2009
Web links
- Victorian Forts data sheet (PDF; 344 kB)
- Spitbank Fort
- Victorian Forts detailed description (PDF; 344 kB)
- Map of Portsmouth Defenses