Fort Perch Rock is a former defence installation situated at the mouth of

Liverpool Bay Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...

in New Brighton. Built in the 1820s to defend the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

, it is now a tourist attraction and museum. It has been used as a venue for musical concerts and has been listed as a Grade II*

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The Fort's cafe "The Mess" is open daily from 9 am. A World War 2 escape room concept "Escape The Fort" runs within the fort.

History

Fort Perch Rock is a coastal defence battery built between 1825 and 1829, with the foundation stone being laid in 1826. It was built to protect the

and proposed as a fortified lighthouse to replace the old Perch Rock Light; however, a separate lighthouse was built. The fort was built on an area known as Black Rock, and was cut off at high tide. However, coastal reclamation has made it fully accessible. The Fort covers an area of about , with enough space for 100 men. It was built with red sandstone from the

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

quarries. The height of the walls ranges from to , and the towers are high. The Fort originally had a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

, and a Tuscan portal which bore the coat of arms and the words 'Fort Perch Rock'. At one point it was armed with 18 guns, of which 16 were 32-pounders, mounted on platforms. It was nicknamed the 'Little

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

of the Mersey'. The foundation stone reads:

''This foundation stone of the Rock Perch Battery, projected by and under the direction of John Sikes Kitson, Esquire, Captain in the Royal Engineers, for the defence of the port was laid on 31st March 1826 by Peter Bourne, Esquire, Mayor of Liverpool in the 7th year of the reign of His Majesty George IV. His Grace, the Duke of Wellington , Master General of the Ordnance.''

The projected cost of building was £27,065.0s.8d. Kitson ensured that this budget was not exceeded, finishing the fort for a total cost of £26,965.0s.8d.

Modern use

In the late 1970s, the fort could be hired as a party venue. During this time

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

founder members

Andy McCluskey George Andrew McCluskey (born 24 June 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer and bass guitarist of the electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he founded ...

and

Paul Humphreys Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...

played there as members of the short lived Wirral group The Id. Since the 1990s, the fort has played host to various musical events including, in the summer of 2006, a number of rock concerts which were organised by a group of young Wallaseyans. The nights were called "Nautical" and were featured in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper and named '' The NME'' club of the week for the 1 September 2006 show, which featured British Sea Power and the Tiny Dancers. The fort features a museum with displays including military aviation, maritime history. Previously, the Fort Perch Rock Marine Radio Museum used to exhibit marine wireless communications devices. The "Escape The Fort"

escape room An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room, is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limit ...

opened in 2022 and is available for bookings daily. In spring 2022, The Mess cafe opened within the Fort and is open daily from 9 am.

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

drama, The Black Rock, was filmed at Fort Perch Rock in 2024. The film stars Kyle Brookes and Charles Riley, and is directed by Andrew Games.

In literature and the arts

In the poetical illustration 'The Black-Rock Fort and Lighthouse', by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

to an engraving of a painting by Samuel Austin, she imagines the beacon light as a welcoming sight to voyagers returning home to England.

Gallery

File:Fort Perch Rock Lighthouse.jpg, Perch Rock Lighthouse File:Fort Perch Rock entrance crest.jpg, Crest above the entrance File:Fort Perch Rock 1991.jpg, Fort Perch Rock with Liverpool in the distance Image:Fortperchrock.jpg, View from the top of Fort Perch Rock Image:Fort Perch Rock 2 Wirral.jpg, Fort Perch Rock

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{commons category, Fort Perch Rock
Fort Perch Rock's website
Perch Rock, Fort Forts in Merseyside Museums in Merseyside Telecommunications museums in the United Kingdom New Brighton, Merseyside Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Military and war museums in England