Forton Lake is a tidal creek located in the town of

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

, Hampshire. A small area of the lake is within the grounds of

St Vincent College St Vincent College is a co-educational sixth form (16-18) college located in Gosport, Hampshire, England. The majority of students come from the surrounding towns including Gosport, Fareham, Stubbington and Winchester. The nearby Gosport Ferry ...

. The locality is the subject of a painting by

Martin Snape Martin Snape (31 December 1852 – 24 November 1930) was an English painter of the Victorian and Edwardian era. Biography Born in Gosport in 1852, Snape worked in a variety of media (oils, watercolours, engraving, etc.). He concentrated mainly ...

, which hangs in

Gosport Town Hall Gosport Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street, Gosport, Hampshire, England. The structure currently serves as the headquarters of Gosport Borough Council. History The first municipal building in Gosport was an ancient market ha ...

. The Lake itself is resident to local fish species, including shoal bass and pollack.

Archaeology

Forton Lake is home to around thirty wrecked vessels of varying type, the majority of which arrived at the lake in the twentieth century. Among these are a Second World War motor minesweeper, MMS ''293'', which served in the Royal Navy with the Expeditionary Force of the Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief in 1944, and a former

Gosport ferry The Gosport Ferry is a ferry service for pedestrians and cyclists operating between Gosport and Portsmouth in Hampshire, southern England. It is currently operated by Gosport Ferry Ltd, a subsidiary of the Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company Ltd, ...

named '' Vadne'', which was built in 1939 and ferried passengers at Portsmouth Harbour from 1939 to 1943 and from 1946 to 1965. Vadne - 27 Sept 2008

Forton Lake was the subject of a brief archaeological survey in 1997, and more recently the focus of the Forton Lake Archaeology Project, organised by the

Nautical Archaeology Society The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and WalesCharity Commission
...

and

Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltsh ...

, from 2006 to 2008. This project involved local residents in attempting to uncover the heritage that had lain undiscovered at the lake. Fieldwork for another archaeology project, the Forton Lake Archaeology Project 2009, was completed over the period of four months from June through to September. 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 would have been used by the Royal Navy as barges or for transporting munitions and other goods; others, such as ''Vadne'', would have served the general public on a daily basis. 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, which sought to modernise the Gosport waterfront in celebration and anticipation of the year 2000.

Bibliography

The Gosport Discovery Centre Local History Collection contains these articles: *''Forton Road Conservation Area Action Plan'' (1994) *''Guide to St John's Church, Forton'' (1998/9) *Turner, O. E. ''St John's School, Forton'' (1992)

References

External links

Daniel Karmy's photographs of Forton Lake 2007-2009
{{coord, 50.8040, -1.1302, type:waterbody_region:GB-HAM, display=title Gosport Ship graveyards