Fort Amherst

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Fort Amherst was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defense to protect the southeastern approaches to Chatham Dockyard and the River Medway against a French invasion. Part of it is now open to the public.

During the Napoleonic Wars the Chatham defenses were enlarged and strengthened considerably. In 1802-11 French prisoners of war were set to work on extending the tunnels and creating vast underground stores and shelters, new magazines, barracks, gun batteries and guardrooms. More than 50 smooth-bore cannon were also mounted. The last building works were about 1820.

A maze of tunnels dug into the chalk cliffs were used to move ammunition around the fort.

A second gun battery, Townsend Redoubt, was built at the northeastern corner of the dockyard at the same time as Fort Amherst. Both forts were inside the 1756 brick-lined earthwork bastions known as the Cumberland Lines, which surrounded the whole east side of the dockyard down to St Mary's Island. These have now been built over.

Fort Clarence in Rochester and Fort Pitt, on the Rochester-Chatham borders, were built in 1805-15 to protect the southern approaches.

Fort Amherst has been described by English Heritage as the most complete Napoleonic fortification in Britain and as such has great national historical significance.

The fort was still in use during the Second World War and restoration to make more areas open to the public is in progress.

Some of the cannon can still be heard each Sunday throughout the year and every day during school holidays, as scenes are re-enacted from the fort's history. The lower part is now opened to the public by the Fort Amherst and Lines Trust. The upper part of the site is still closed.

Ghost tours take place in the evenings of the October school half-term.

[edit] External links

• Fort Amherst and Lines Trust
• Upper Fort Amherst