Stamford Fort is a 19th-century

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as

Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the ...

, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the landward approaches to the east of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, as an element of the plan for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. It is 165 feet above sea level, between Jennycliffe Bay and Hooe Lake. Designed by Captain (later Maj General)

Edmund Frederick Du Cane Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane (23 March 1830 – 7 June 1903) was an English major-general of the Royal Engineers and prison administrator. Early life Born at Colchester, Essex on 23 March 1830, he was youngest child in a family of four sons and ...

, it was built by George Roach and Company, who also built Staddon Fort. It was built as a five sided polygonal fort, surrounded by a dry ditch. Three sides face landward, one seaward, whilst the rear faces the Cattewater. The ditch was defended with three caponiers and a counter-scarp gallery. The fort was connected by a military road to the nearby Staddon Fort. To house the fort's garrison a barrack block for 200 men was built within the rear section of the fort, arranged in 13 casemates, on two floors. These have now been converted into flats. It was designed to be armed with 20 guns and 6 mortars. By 1893 it mounted five RML 64-pounder 58 cwt, 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading Guns, one RBL 7-inch Armstrong gun, 7-inch Rifled Breech Loading (RBL) gun and two RML 10-inch 18-ton gun, 10-inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. By the early 1900s the fort had become obsolete as a defensive position and was disarmed in 1904. It was sold off by the War Office in 1963. It is now used as a caravan park, fitness centre and private flats. It was Scheduled Monument#England and Wales, Scheduled in 1963.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Commons category, Fort Stamford, Plymouth
Fort Stamford website
Forts of Plymouth, Devon Palmerston Forts Military history of Devon