South Hook Fort, on the northern shore of

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, is 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 ...

which belongs to a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven following the

Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom was a committee formed in 1859 to enquire into the ability of the United Kingdom to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power, and to advise the British Government on ...

Location

It stands in Herbrandston parish, at South Hook Point, some 200 m north of the cliffs.

Description

It is D-shaped with four walls 4 feet thick and contains a horseshoe shaped two-storey barracks block. It comprises two separate batteries protected by earthworks and connected to the fort by covered walkways. The fort initially housed twenty guns facing out to sea, although this was later modified. It is surrounded by a deep ditch, and access is via a bridge. Work was completed in 1865. Its complement included a Defence Electric Light searchlight unit manned by 200 men, and its guns were aligned to provide crossfire with those at Hubberston and Popton across the Haven.

History

The fort was part of the Palmerston fortifications meant to defend the harbour of Milford Haven. Work commenced on the fort in 1859, a year before the Royal Commission was published. The fort later became part of the double defences of the Haven and was built to a similar design as that at Hubberstone. The fort was fully manned during the First World War, although it was abandoned in the 1930s. It was sold in 1936 but requisitioned in 1939 by the Admiralty and called HMS Skirmisher. During the Second World War, it was manned by WRENS controlling naval movements in the Haven. After the war it was once again decommissioned, and returned to private ownership. It now part of the South Hook LNG terminal jetty. It was listed as a grade II*

Heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

on March 4, 2004.

Environment

The fort is a roosting and hibernation site for a colony of

horseshoe bat Horseshoe bats are bats in the family Rhinolophidae. In addition to the single living genus, ''Rhinolophus'', which has about 106 species, the extinct genus '' Palaeonycteris'' has been recognized. Horseshoe bats are closely related to the Ol ...

s, which are protected under UK law — along with their roosts.

References

Connex articles

Chapel Bay Fort Chapel Bay Fort is located on the southern shore of the Milford Haven Waterway, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The fort is approximately from the village of Angle. One of a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven followin ...

Fort Hubberstone Fort Hubberstone, on the west side of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, is a Grade II* Listed Building which belongs to a series of forts built as part of the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Commission on the Defence of the U ...

Popton Fort Popton Fort, a Grade II* Listed Building, is a Palmerston fort completed in 1864 as part of the inner line of defence of Milford Haven together with Fort Hubberstone on the opposite bank. Work commenced in 1859, only completed in 1864 at a cost ...

Scoveston Fort Scoveston Fort, on the northern shore of Milford Haven (harbour), Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, U.K., is a Grade II listed building which is part of a series of forts built as the inner line of defence of the Haven following the Royal Co ...

* Stack Rock Fort

External links

* {{cite web , title= South Hook Fort Battery, Pembrokeshire , format= incl. many photos , website= derelictplaces.co.uk , date= 2010 , url= http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=14986 , access-date= 2024-09-23 Forts in Pembrokeshire Grade II* listed buildings in Pembrokeshire History of Pembrokeshire Buildings and structures in Milford Haven Palmerston Forts Ruins in Wales Grade II* listed forts