Forton Lake. A locality in the town of Gosport, Hampshire. It is within the grounds of St Vincent College.The locality is the subject of a painting by Martin Snape which hangs in the town hall.
Forton Lake was the subject of a detailed archeological survey in 1997, and more recently the focus of the Forton Lake Archaeology Project, run by the Nautical Archaeology Society and Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, from 2006 to 2008. The Project was a success, involving many local residents in actively finding out about their local heritage. The area will be the subject of another, separate archaeology project in June to August 2009, with the intention of continuing recording and survey work at Forton Lake and providing members of the local community with another chance to "get stuck in" and explore the heritage on their doorstep.
Forton Lake is known to have been in use since the early Saxon times, and its use has been continuous. Many of the wrecks located in the lake were used by the Royal Navy as barges or for transporting ammunitions and other goods from one place to another.
The east end of Forton Lake, as it becomes Portsmouth Harbour, is home to a footbridge built in 2000 as part of the Millennium Project.
The Gosport Discovery Centre Local History Collection contains these articles:
i Guide to St John's Church, Forton (1998/9) ISBN X200007511
ii Forton Road- Conservation Area Action Plan (1994) ISBN X102519021
iii St John's School, Forton Turner, O.E (1992) ISBN X101889984
