The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
The forts were built during the
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
period on the recommendations of the 1860
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 ...
, prompted by concerns about the strength of the French Navy,
and strenuous debate in
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
about whether the cost could be justified.
The name comes from their association with
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...
, who was
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
at the time and promoted the idea.
The works were also known as Palmerston's Follies, partly because
the first ones which were around Portsmouth, had their main armament facing inland to protect Portsmouth from a land-based attack, and thus (as it appeared to some) facing the wrong way to defend from a French attack. The name also derived from the use of the term "folly" to indicate "
a costly ornamental building with no practical value". They were criticized because at the time of their completion, the threat from the French navy had passed, largely due to the complete alignment of Napoleon III's foreign policy with British interests then to the withdrawal of France following its crushing by Prussia in the
Franco-Prussian war
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
of 1870, and because the technology of the guns had become obsolete. They were the most costly and extensive system of fixed defences undertaken in Britain in peacetime.
Some sixty years previously, there had been a similar period of defence works construction, when some 140 circular towers were built for the same purpose (mainly along the Sussex, Kent and Suffolk coast to protect London) called
Martello Tower
Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts.
They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...
s, but these had become outdated.
Areas defended
The new defences were built to defend a number of key areas of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
,
Irish and
Channel Island
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consist ...
coastline, in particular areas around military bases, including:
Gallery of select Palmerston Forts
File:Paull Church and Paull Fort - geograph.org.uk - 323327.jpg, Fort Paull
Fort Paull is a Artillery battery, gun battery situated on the north bank of the Humber, near the village of Paull, downstream from Kingston upon Hull, Hull in northern England.
History
Batteries have been built at Paull by Henry VIII of Engla ...
, on the East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...
coast
File:Cliffe Fort corner bastion.jpg, Cliffe Fort
Cliffe Fort is a disused artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard the entrance to the River Thames from seaborne attack. Constructed during a period of tension with France, it stands on the south bank of the river at the entrance to Cliffe Cre ...
, on the south coast of the Thames Estuary
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
Limits
An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...
File:Fort Burgoyne, Dover.jpg, Fort Burgoyne
Fort Burgoyne, originally known as Castle Hill Fort, was built in the 1860s as one of the Palmerston Forts, Dover, Palmerston forts around Dover in southeast England. It was built to a polygonal system with detached eastern and western redoubts, ...
, overlooking Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
's coast
File:Guests Arriving at Spitbank Fort.jpg, Spitbank Fort, outside Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a / biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.
It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it ...
File:Fort Albert - geograph.org.uk - 164047.jpg, Fort Albert, on the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
File:Plymouth Sound.jpg, Drake's Island Battery in Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England.
Description
Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...
File:Breandownfort.JPG, Brean Down Fort
Brean Down Fort was a Victorian naval fortification designed to protect the Bristol Channel. It was built above sea level on the headland at Brean Down, south of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.
The site has a long history because of its ...
, on Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
's south coast
File:St Catherine's Fort Front, Tenby From On The Island.jpg, St Catherine's Fort
St Catherine's Fort is a 19th-century Palmerston Fort on St Catherine's Island, at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
History
Conception
The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, which Lord Palmerston had established in 1859 in ...
, on southeast coast of Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
See also
*
Folly fort
A folly fort or just folly is a specific type of fort built in shallow water, near the shore, in the second half of the 19th century. The main characteristic of a folly fort was that it was built on the water, very close to the edge, very small, ...
Other British coastal defences:
*
Device Forts
The Device Forts, also known as Henrician castles and blockhouses, were a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the coast of England and Wales by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII. Traditionally, the Crown had left coastal defences ...
(built 1539–1547)
*
Maunsell Forts
The Maunsell Forts are towers built in the Thames Estuary, Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were operated as army and navy forts, and named for their designer, Guy Maunsell. The for ...
(built 1942–1943)
References
External links
*{{Commons category-inline, Palmerston forts
Palmerston Forts SocietyVictorian Forts and Artillery
19th-century fortifications
Invasions of England
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
British Defence Forces