Brean Down Fort
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Brean Down Fort was built on the headland at Brean Down, 9 miles south of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England between 1864 and 1871 on the recommendations of the 1859 Royal Commission.
It was the most southerly of a chain of defences across the Bristol Channel, protecting the access to Bristol and Cardiff. The fort was originally armed with seven 7" RMLs. After an explosion caused by a suicidal soldier, the fort was disarmed in 1901. On the outbreak of World War II the fort was rearmed with two 6" ex-naval guns. During WWII the site was also used as a test launch site for rockets and experimental weapons.
The site is now owned by the National Trust as part of its Brean Down property and is open to the public.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- van der Bijl, Nicholas (2000). Brean Down Fort: Its History and the Defence of the Bristol Channel. Cossington: Hawk Editions. ISBN 0-9529081-7-4.
- Brown, Donald (1999). Somerset V Hitler: Secret Operations in the Mendips 1939 - 1945. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-590-0.
