shakey
Well-known member
Evening All,
I got a new camera today, so I decided to go for a wander around a little bit of woodlands I knew that was near by, little to my knowledge hidden inside this woodlands was in fact the reminants of Fort Fareham. Perfect! Before I get too much into this, this is my first ever DSLR, so I'm still very much an amatuer.
History (Wikipedia);
Fort Fareham is one of the Palmerston Forts, in Fareham, England. After the Gosport Advanced Line of Fort Brockhurst, Fort Elson, Fort Rowner, Fort Grange and Fort Gomer had been approved by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom a decision was made to build an outer line of three more forts two miles in advance of the Gosport Advanced Line. Of these three projected forts only Fort Fareham was built due to the need to cut costs. It acted as a hinge between the forts on Portsdown Hill and those of the Gosport Advanced Line, filling the gap at Fareham.
The fort became surplus to requirements in 1965 when it was sold by the Ministry of Defence to Fareham Urban Council. In 1974, a contractor acting for a Property Company, who had leased the fort from Fareham Council, cleared the ramparts of vegetation by bulldozing it flat. All of the earth was stripped from the Haxo casemates, together with the earth forming the parapets and merlons, leaving the gun emplacements and expense magazines devoid of cover. One Haxo casemate was completely removed. The guard room and gateway were demolished together with the stables, sling wagon shed, movable armament shed, vehicle shed and portions of the parados before an injunction prevented further damage. The parade of the fort is entirely covered with Fort Fareham Business Park. The casemates are intact but have been converted to modern industrial units.
I only really walked around the very edge of where the moat was/is (and a little bit on top) - I will go back sometime and have a walk around the centre (which is an industrial estatey type area)
This is what first alerted me to the presence of the fort. At first I thought it was part of the disused railway line which was in the area (which got my hopes up a bit - train enthuisast here
)
This is one of the turrets in the side - and this is what made me realise that this wasn't part of the railway, (unless company rivalry was a lot different back then compared to what it is now!)
There was also a gun turret on top of one of the bits I walked upon, there was also another one that I found, but I didn't really fancy going to it - unsuitable footwear
I bet Liam is a very lucky guy
It is there - honest!
Some of it has faired better than others...
Cheers for looking!
~ Shakey,
I got a new camera today, so I decided to go for a wander around a little bit of woodlands I knew that was near by, little to my knowledge hidden inside this woodlands was in fact the reminants of Fort Fareham. Perfect! Before I get too much into this, this is my first ever DSLR, so I'm still very much an amatuer.
History (Wikipedia);
Fort Fareham is one of the Palmerston Forts, in Fareham, England. After the Gosport Advanced Line of Fort Brockhurst, Fort Elson, Fort Rowner, Fort Grange and Fort Gomer had been approved by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom a decision was made to build an outer line of three more forts two miles in advance of the Gosport Advanced Line. Of these three projected forts only Fort Fareham was built due to the need to cut costs. It acted as a hinge between the forts on Portsdown Hill and those of the Gosport Advanced Line, filling the gap at Fareham.
The fort became surplus to requirements in 1965 when it was sold by the Ministry of Defence to Fareham Urban Council. In 1974, a contractor acting for a Property Company, who had leased the fort from Fareham Council, cleared the ramparts of vegetation by bulldozing it flat. All of the earth was stripped from the Haxo casemates, together with the earth forming the parapets and merlons, leaving the gun emplacements and expense magazines devoid of cover. One Haxo casemate was completely removed. The guard room and gateway were demolished together with the stables, sling wagon shed, movable armament shed, vehicle shed and portions of the parados before an injunction prevented further damage. The parade of the fort is entirely covered with Fort Fareham Business Park. The casemates are intact but have been converted to modern industrial units.
I only really walked around the very edge of where the moat was/is (and a little bit on top) - I will go back sometime and have a walk around the centre (which is an industrial estatey type area)
This is what first alerted me to the presence of the fort. At first I thought it was part of the disused railway line which was in the area (which got my hopes up a bit - train enthuisast here
)
This is one of the turrets in the side - and this is what made me realise that this wasn't part of the railway, (unless company rivalry was a lot different back then compared to what it is now!)
There was also a gun turret on top of one of the bits I walked upon, there was also another one that I found, but I didn't really fancy going to it - unsuitable footwear
I bet Liam is a very lucky guy
It is there - honest!
Some of it has faired better than others...
Cheers for looking!
~ Shakey,
