Fort Nelson, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Boarhunt Boarhunt () is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. It is now part of the Royal Armouries, housing their collection of artillery, and a Grade I

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Description

Fort Nelson is a typical Polygonal or Palmerston Fort. It is six-sided with a deep ditch protected by three

caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...

s. Above each caponier is a well-protected emplacement for 13-inch mortars. It was originally entered by two

Guthrie rolling bridge A Guthrie rolling bridge was a kind of retractable bridge, an 18th-century version of the drawbridge. It was commonly installed as the access across the narrow steep sided ditches characteristic of the polygonal forts of this era. Rolling bridg ...

s and has a barrack block for 172 officers and other ranks, protected by a V-shaped redan. A large open parade ground gives access to the

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s 40 feet underneath it. There are open emplacements on the ramparts for 64 pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns and RML 6.6-inch howitzers. There are also three Haxo casemates for 7 inch rifled breech-loaders. The Nelson Monument, which gave the fort its name, stands adjacent.

History

Fort Nelson is one of five Portsdown Forts. Built as a result of the 1859 Royal Commission by Lord Palmerston to prevent a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

land attack, on the

dockyard only 8 kilometres away, because the older

Hilsea Lines The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built at Hilsea to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island, an island off the southern coast of England which forms the majority of the city of Portsmouth and its key nav ...

at the bottom of the ridge were considered insufficient. A series of 6 forts were built along the 7 miles (10 km) of the ridge. From west to east they are forts Fareham, Wallington, Nelson, Southwick,

Widley Widley is an area of the Greater Portsmouth conurbation in the South East of England near Waterlooville and Purbrook. It is on the dip slope of the South Downs just north of the ridge called Portsdown Hill. Widley is served by the A3(T), tru ...

and Purbrook. The line was finished off at the eastern end with Crookhorn Redoubt and Farlington Redoubt. A garrison of around 200

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

accompanied by regular army officers would have staffed the fort in time of war. Construction was protracted and Fort Nelson wasn't fully armed until the 1890s. The fort was disarmed in 1907 and then used for accommodation. In 1938, it was converted to an area anti-aircraft ammunition store; ten large magazines were built on the parade ground. Fort Nelson was abandoned in the 1950s.

Royal Armouries

In 1979, after years of neglect and vandalism, it was sold to Hampshire County Council for £50,000. The Council, with assistance of volunteers from the Palmerston Forts Society, restored it at a cost of £3-4million, and it opened to the public in 1994, becoming part of the Royal Armouries in 1995. It houses their collection of artillery, including: * The ' Boxted Bombard', an English wrought iron cannon from around 1450, which was powerful enough to fire a 60 kg granite ball * The ' Dardanelles Gun', an Ottoman bronze cannon from 1464 which was powerful enough to fire stone balls with a diameter of 63 cm * French field guns captured at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

* Fortress guns from India and China. * Parts of the famous

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i ' Project Babylon'

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

-era supergun. * One of the two

Mallet's Mortar Mallet's Mortar was a British shell-firing mortar built for the Crimean War, but never used in combat. The mortar was designed by Robert Mallet and was constructed in separate sections so that it could be transported. Robert Mallet first made h ...

s. * Several

SBBL 32 pounder The SBBL 32-pounder was a British smooth-bore breech loading gun made by converting older 32-pounder 42 cwt smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns. Design and role The guns chosen for conversion were Monk Pattern guns of 42 cwt, a lighter and shorte ...

s The fort covers around and is open all year round, with no charges except for some special events. Live firing demonstrations are held every day, costumed guides, video presentations, and visitors are able to explore the tunnels that run below the fort connecting the magazines with gun emplacements. There are displays demonstrating the living and working conditions of the soldiers who defended the fort, and views over

, the Solent,

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

and

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

, with the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

beyond.

Sources

The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson – Official Site
Page retrieved at 01:53am 5 May 2008.
Portsmouth Naval and Defence Heritage
Page retrieved at 11.30am 29 July 2005.
Fareham Borough Council page on Fort Nelson
Page retrieved at 12.20pm 29 July 2005.

References

External links

The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson – Official Site

The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson – Guide

Fareham Borough Council page on Fort Nelson

Palmerston Forts Society

Victorian Forts data sheet
{{authority control Nelson Museums sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nelson Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire Military and war museums in England Museums in Portsmouth Nelson