Fort Bovisand
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Fort Bovisand is a fort in Devon, England near the beach of Bovisand. It was built on the mainland to defend the entrance of Plymouth Sound, at the narrows opposite the east end of Plymouth Breakwater. The fort is beside Bovisand harbour.
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[edit] History
In 1816 a stone jetty and slip were buit for boats from sailing warships anchored in Plymouth Sound to collect fresh water from the nearby purpose-built reservoir.
The first fort at the site, named Staddon Height Battery, was started in 1845. It still exists in the upper part of the present fort. As part of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, work started on the main part of the fort consisting of 23 granite casemates, originally housing twenty-two 9-inch Rifled Muzzle Loaders (RMLs), one 10-inch RML gun and 180 men. By 1880 the armament was fourteen 10-inch and nine 9-inch RML guns. Underground there are large deep tunnels to store artillery ammunition safe from enemy gunfire. In 1898 four 12-pounder quick-firing guns were installed.
In the early 1900s the original guns had been removed. In 1942 the four 12-pounders were replaced by two twin 6-pounders, to combat E-boats. A Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun was installed in 1943. In 1957 the Ministry of Defence had abandoned the fort.
[edit] Recent use
In the early 1970s the fort was converted into an important national commercial diving school and scuba diving centre, which flourished for many years, but at last got into difficulties, and disagreements among its management.
By 2000 the main leaseholder Fort Bovisand Underwater Centre went into liquidation, but the other diving services trading at Fort Bovisand kept on trading, and the accountants managing the liquidation encouraged this to preserve the value of Bovisand as an asset, particularly because Fort Bovisand diving school had a world-wide reputation. There followed months of argument about the status of the leases and viability of existing businesses based there.
In December 2000 Marine Contractors Ltd (one of the main businesses based there, and one of the parties negotiating to take over the running of Fort Bovisand) went into receivership. As a result the owners (the Ministry of Defence) decided that it was no longer possible to keep the site functioning. The accountants acting as liquidators for the owners obtained a court order for possession and changed the locks and evicted the remaining diving etc firms trading there.
On 13 January 2003, news said that Fort Bovisand was likely to be sold on the open market, but that accountants Begbie Traynor were still interested in hearing from businesses, including diving concerns, who might want to take it on.[1] By Mid-2005 ex-BBC boss Greg Dyke and local property developer John Steven owned Fort Bovisand and had plans to set up a new business there.
[edit] References
Fort Bovisand, Kendal McDonald, ISBN 0-9528637-1-5
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[edit] External links
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