Haunted Fort Horsted

Fort Horsted History

During the mid 1800s there was considerable alarm in the United Kingdom generated by the territorial ambitions of Emperor Napoleon III of France, a traditional enemy, and the growing power of imperial Germany. The threat was so great that a Royal Commission was set up in 1859 to review UK defences and report its findings to parliament, which it did in 1860.

One of its recommendations was the construction of five forts to provide defence to Chatham’s Eastern flank and the strategically important Chatham dockyard where the new iron-clad warships were to be constructed. The forts were: Darland, Twydall, Luton, Horsted and Bridgewoods. Military opinion on the usefulness of fixed fortifications was divided possibly leading to the forts becoming known as Palmerston’s follies after the Prime Minister of the day Lord Palmerston.

Construction

Work started on Fort Horsted, named after the area and by far the largest of the five, in 1880 using a convict labour force from the newly constructed Borstal prison and supervised by the Royal Engineers. The central tunnel and casemates were the first features to be constructed using bricks laid on timber formers and then covered in concrete to a depth of several metres. If you look at the roof of the main tunnel you can see the impression left by the timber formers. The last feature was the thirty foot deep dry moat that completely encircles the Fort. The chalk and flint from this major excavation was piled on top of the concrete to provide further protection from bombardment. By 1889 the work on the Fort had been completed and its role of providing a garrison, munitions store and water supply top up to Forts Luton and Bridgewoods began.

Armoury

Constructed in the shape of a six sided arrow head, with each flank protected by machines guns in the counterscarp galleries, the Fort would have been home to a garrison of approximately 400 men and women. Although never permanently so, a fort of this size would have been armed with:

• Eight 8” Howitzers on recoilless carriages

• Four 6.6” Howitzers