{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Several of the forts surrounding

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases in the south of the country. The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom reported in 1860 and resulted in a huge building programme. Examples of the forts are: * Agaton Fort * Fort Austin *

Fort Bovisand Fort Bovisand is a fort in Devon, England near the beach of Bovisand. It was built as a result of the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom which reported in 1860. It is located on the mainland to defend the entrance of Plymout ...

* Bowden Fort * Brownhill Battery * Cawsand Fort *

Crownhill Fort {{coord, 50, 24, 49, N, 4, 07, 48, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Crownhill Fort is a Royal Commission Fort built in the 1860s in Crownhill as part of Lord Palmerston's ring of land defences for Plymouth. Restored by the Landmark T ...

* Drake's Island Battery * Egg Buckland Keep * Ernesettle Fort * Fort Efford * Forder Battery *

Hawkins Battery Hawkins Battery is a former coastal artillery battery, built to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. The battery was originally built between 1888 and 1892 to mount four 9-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns on high angle mountings ...

Knowles Battery Knowles Battery is a former 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures aro ...

* Laira Battery * Mount Edgcumbe Garden Battery *

Penlee Battery Penlee Battery is a nature reserve lying on the coastal headland of Penlee Point on the Rame Peninsula, in southeast Cornwall, England. The site was formerly the location of a gun battery, constructed between 1889 and 1892. It was originally ...

* Picklecombe Fort * Plymouth Breakwater Fort * Polhawn Battery * Raleigh Battery * Fort Scraesdon *

Staddon Fort Staddon Fort is a 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the lan ...

* Stamford Fort * Fort Tregantle * Watch House Battery * Whitesand Bay Battery * Woodlands Fort

References

* Woodward, F. W. (1998) ''Forts or Follies''. Devon Books, 1998; Barbarossa Books * Plymouth City websit

Forts of Plymouth, Devon, Forts in Cornwall Forts in Devon *Plymouth

Forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...