# Crownhill Fort



## Underworld (Jun 29, 2008)

My first UE with Scotty and Scrub + GF. Please be nice on the pictures as I didn't have a tripod at the time (I do now) and I was/am still learning on what type of shots to be taking.

First, a history lesson (from wiki)

*History of the fort*

Crownhill Fort was designed by Captain E.F. Du Cane as one of Lord Palmerston's last forts and was the largest of the forts of Plymouth's North Eastern defences, whose purpose was to defend the Royal Dockyard at Devonport from the possibility of a French attack, under the leadership of Napoleon III.

Construction began in April 1863, with Crownhill Fort being at the cutting edge of fortress design, although it does conform to the standard polygonal design of its contemporaries. It was built 400 metres in front of the defensive line, in an exposed position, and is therefore designed for all round defence, with each of its seven sides having massive ramparts and being surrounded by a deep ditch. All sides were also protected by gunfire, with the fort having around 350 built-in rifle loopholes. It was designed for an armament of 32 guns on the ramparts and 6 mortars built into the north and north west ramparts. A year later, in 1864, Russian commander General Todleben was shown the building works, and he complimented them.

In 1866, after a strike, George Baker, the building contractor, went bankrupt and so the work was finished in 1869 by the Royal Engineers, who would later occupy the fort. The total cost of the construction was £76, 409 which was a large sum at the time, but a lower cost than other Palmerston forts.

In 1881, the Director of Artillery and Stores recommended that two forts, Fort Widley in Portsmouth and Crownhill Fort, be armed with complete peacetime armaments. This explains the impressive range of artillery on show at the fort today.

However, fortresses soon became obsolete, due to advances in weaponry and warfare and many Victorian forts were abandoned by the army. Fortunately, Crownhill Fort wasn't and was instead used by many different infantry regiments as HQ Plymouth Garrison.

In the First World War, Crownhill Fort was used as a recruitment and transport centre for troops being sent to the fronts in Turkey and Africa. It was then used as a de-mobilisation depot before becoming a base for the newly-created Royal Signals Corps.

The last time Crownhill Fort was actively used in a military situation was during the Second World War, when anti-aircraft guns were positioned in the fort. Following the war, in the 1950s, it had a Gun Operations Room built on the parade ground, incorporating part of the Officers barrack. It then continued as a home for the 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers until 1983, despatching 647 troops and 1,897 tonnes of war material during the Falklands War. The fort was purchased 3 years later by the Landmark Trust, who have restored Crownhill Fort to be the best preserved example of Palmerston's forts. In completing this task, Landmark Trust have received much assistance from grant aid courtesy of the European Committee, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

*Structure of Crownhill Fort*

The basic shape of Crownhill Fort is a heptagon, incorporating many advanced Victorian fort design ideas.

*The Ditch*

The main fort is surrounded by a dry ditch, defended by caponiers, which is hewn from solid rock. 200 000 tonnes of material had to 

be moved to create the ditch, which is 30ft deep and 30ft wide [2].
*
The Caponiers*

Crownhill Fort has six three-storey caponiers. The first floor was for infantrymen, the second was for gun casements each housing 

Smooth-Bore Breech-Loading guns and the third connects with the Chemin de Ronde, the parapeted walkway circling the fort. The 

Northern caponier is double-sided.

*Crownhill Fort's guns*

Crownhill Fort is famous for its collection of artillery and its regular cannon firings, designed to represent the life of men based there in the 1890s by following the exact gun drill of the day. In total, the fort has 32 guns on its ramparts (including 5 Haxo casements and 2 Moncrieff pits) and 15 in its caponiers. Some of the guns that can be found at Crownhill Fort include:

* a Moncrieff Counterweight Disappearing Gun, the only one of its kind in the world – the carriage uses a unique counterweight system to rise above the parapet to fire and then descend in a controlled manner, powered by the recoil.

* two 13-inch Mortars, on loan from the Royal Armouries, which were designed to fire 200-pound explosive shells. It is believed that they were used in the Crimean War, against Russia

* 15 32-pound smooth-bore breach-loading guns from the 1880s, designed to fire case shot

* two Armstrong 7-inch rifled breechloaders. These guns were first issued to the Navy in 1858, but were found to be not powerful enough, and so were sent instead to be mounted on the ramparts of land fortifications, such as Crownhill Fort.

* two muzzle-loading 32-pound cannon, which were rescued from Tregantle Fort in Cornwall, where they were being used as gateposts.

* a muzzle loading 2-pound cannon, from the 1790s

* a carronade made by the foundry Bailey, Pegg and Co Ltd, from Staffordshire

*The fort today*

The fort was first opened to the public in 1995 and now offers unrestricted access to all parts, including the miles of underground tunnels. There are also four fighting levels and 32 gun positions, featuring many working cannon.

Crownhill Fort also contains recreated Victorian and World War II barrack rooms, Victorian sergeant quarters and a guard room.


My shots...












































I hope you all like !

UW

EDIT - Made bigger !!!


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## spacepunk (Jun 30, 2008)

Looks great, pity the pics weren't a bit bigger.


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## RiF (Jun 30, 2008)

spacepunk said:


> Looks great, pity the pics weren't a bit bigger.



click on them


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## kernowexpeditionary (Jun 30, 2008)

nice pics m8, i would of been there but got up too late as normal! hoping to take a look soon tho!....

nice first report, no need to post the pics as thumbs tho, most of us just resize them to something reasonable and post em up! 

look foward to meeting you m8,


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## Scotty (Jun 30, 2008)

nice to meet you mate and thank you very much for this explore.

kernow. get up you lazy git 

some pics from me














































kewnow:=- whats down there and how do we get down there?


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## Lightbuoy (Jun 30, 2008)

Tip top report! 
Crackin' photos from you both, and backed-up with excellent history. Great effort -thanks for sharing.

Lb:jimlad:


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## King Al (Jun 30, 2008)

Great first report Underworld, Like the Cannons


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## kernowexpeditionary (Jun 30, 2008)

scotty, dont know whats down there, but i do know how to get down for a look!


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## Scotty (Jun 30, 2008)

kernowexpeditionary said:


> scotty, dont know whats down there, but i do know how to get down for a look!



i got a idea and luckly underworld is a man with the kit


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## Scrub2000 (Jun 30, 2008)

Class explore and good pics chaps!!!
Thanks.

Here are a few of mine:-


































































Cheers


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## Underworld (Jun 30, 2008)

Some great shoots there. Looking forward to our next trip as the experence you both gave me was great (I now have a tripod)

UW


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## Lightbuoy (Jun 30, 2008)

Great, more pictures -I'm loving the look of this place -preserved, yet pretty much original by the looks of it 

Lb:jimlad:


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## graybags (Jun 30, 2008)

*CHill*

As usual, some cracking pics guys

Some from a recent jaunt, various quality as main camera wasn't working (out of battery)

Looking towards Countermining Gallery from Caponier






Don't ask...






WW1/WW2 Foxhole






Sign 1






Chemin de Ronde






G


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## lycos (Jul 1, 2008)

Nice one guys, good to see you posting UW, and a goody at that, great collection of pics everyone, sorry I missed out on this one too lads, still, off tunneling soon are we? lol, 
let you know when I'm mobile again,
Catch y'all soon...
Lycos.


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## Foxylady (Jul 2, 2008)

Wow, superb site and history, UW. Excellent pics, chaps. Very interesting stuff. 
Graybags, I don't think I'd dare ask...I d'reckon it must be a dog but in that pic it looks, um, positively evil.


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## *MrB* (Jul 11, 2008)

Nice work UW, and good pics as usual Scotty & Scrub


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## smiffy (Jul 11, 2008)

Thats a grand place ...I feel a bike trip comin on .....


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## Urban Mole (Jul 11, 2008)

Wow what a nicely kept fort, great photos guys, its good to see them like this, rather than bulldozed and replaced with apartments


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## graybags (Jul 11, 2008)

*Dog ?*

That is a Field Archery target, Foxy, I was a guest for a shoot back in October, although I have been many times, I saw stuff on this occasion that the general public don't normally get to see

G


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## krela (Jul 11, 2008)

graybags said:


> That is a Field Archery target, Foxy, I was a guest for a shoot back in October, although I have been many times, I saw stuff on this occasion that the general public don't normally get to see
> 
> G



Didn't know you did archery mate?

I saw about that shoot but couldn't get down to it, they're doing it again this year aren't they?

EDIT: Aah, this years is at Scrasedon Fort.


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## Silverfox (Jul 11, 2008)

Excellent first report mate. I've never been myself but following this thread i see little need to go there now


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## ozika (Oct 27, 2008)

This was a really good explore, thanks underworld for the opportunity.
Taken me a while to submit my pics (only just become a member), not really into my photography so nothing amazing just a few to show my attendance.


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## ricardian (Aug 19, 2009)

Underworld said:


> The last time Crownhill Fort was actively used in a military situation was during the Second World War, when anti-aircraft guns were positioned in the fort. Following the war, in the 1950s, it had a Gun Operations Room built on the parade ground, incorporating part of the Officers barrack. It then continued as a home for the 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers until 1983, despatching 647 troops and 1,897 tonnes of war material during the Falklands War. The fort was purchased 3 years later by the Landmark Trust, who have restored Crownhill Fort to be the best preserved example of Palmerston's forts. In completing this task, Landmark Trust have received much assistance from grant aid courtesy of the European Committee, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.



In 1968-70 Crownhill Fort was also home to 24 Brigade HQ and Signals Squadron, it moved there from Tidworth. I was in the RAF as part of 604 Forward Air Control (FAC) unit attached to 24 Bde, I left 604 FAC in 1970 when I was posted to 3 MHU (RAuxAF) at RAF Mountbatten.
-- 
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
<http://claremont.islandblogging.co.uk>


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## v-w-chick (Aug 19, 2009)

use to go here as kid most years for there open day show. mayb that when this all started for me, my family takin meinto tunnels lol 
its good in there, mayb i shud go again.
kelly


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## digitalman (Aug 19, 2009)

Very impressive indeed. Really enjoyed this post. Well done


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## Badoosh (Aug 19, 2009)

In the late 70's, Royal Engineers based at Seaton Barracks across the road were handed the task of blocking the underground tunnels here to stop kids entering the fort from an access point via the ditch. I'd be interested to see any photos from these blocked up parts as would the RSM who overlooked the work!


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## theterrorwheel (Aug 20, 2009)

sure is a great venue, did you check out the hidden cave /tunnel in the moat it doesnt actually go anywhere but is very strange. felt very much like a small mining tunel as it just ended at a blank wall.


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