Fort Darnet, is a nineteenth-century military installation on the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, that formed part of the defences of Chatham Naval Dockyard. Fort Darnet, like its twin Hoo Fort upstream, was built on the recommendations of the 1859 Royal Commission on an island covering Pinup Reach, the inner navigable channel of the River Medway. Building started on the island in 1870 and then finished in 1872. Originally designed for two tiers of guns mounted in a circle, with a boom strung between them, there were many problems with subsidence, and after extensive cost overruns the forts were completed in 1872 with one tier, and 11 guns : a mixture of 8 9-inch and 3 7-inch rifled muzzle-loaders. The boom was not implemented though there were plans to mine the channel if thought needed. It was originally designed for a garrison of up to 100 men. The fort was used for gunnery practice until one of the guns cracked in its

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

, as reported in ‘The Chatham Observer’ on 25 January 1879. The forts were never used in anger, and were decommissioned before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the fort was used as an observation post, with platforms and pillboxes built on top. The fort is still in fair condition, however the magazine level is flooded. The island can be freely visited by boat, though the landing is muddy. Up to the 1980s, the island was used for picnicking and other leisure pursuits. It is scheduled under the

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 or AMAAA was a law passed by the UK government, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the archaeological heritage of England & Wales and Scotland. Northe ...

References

Bibliography

*Crowdy, R, Medway's Island Forts, (1979) *Gulvin, K R, The Medway Forts, (1976), 18-19 *Smith, V T C, Strategic Study of Kents Defences - Fort Darnet, (1999)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnet Palmerston Forts Forts in Medway