Bowden Fort | |
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![]() Surrounding walls at the rear of the Fort, near to the modern garden centre entrance, taken 2005 | |
Coordinates | 50°24′22″N 4°07′00″W / 50.40611°N 4.1166667°WCoordinates: 50°24′22″N 4°07′00″W / 50.40611°N 4.1166667°W |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Largely intact with some alterations |
Site history | |
Built | 1863-1868 |
In use | Garden Centre |
Materials |
Earth Masonry |
Bowden Fort is a former 19th-century fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. Part of an extensive scheme known as Palmerston Forts, after the prime minister who championed the scheme, it was built to defend the landward approaches to the north east of Plymouth, as an element of the plan for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport.
The fort was connected by a military road to the nearby Crownhill Fort and Forder Battery.[1] It was armed with 12 guns and 3 mortars. To house part of the fort's garrison a barrack block for 12 men was built within the rear section of the fort.[2] By the early 1900s the fort had become obsolete as a defensive position and was disarmed. By 1960 it had been sold by the War Office to Plymouth City Council. It was Grade II listed in 1973.[3] It is now used as a garden centre. The rear gorge has been filled in and now provides car parking.
References[]
- ↑ The National Archives WO78/2314, 29 Maps of fortifications in the environs of Plymouth, 1857-1920
- ↑ Victorian Forts datasheet- Retrieved 2018-12-20
- ↑ "Bowden Battery - 1021365". Historic England. 2008-04-07. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1021365. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
Bibliography[]
- Woodward, Freddy (1996). The Historic Defences of Plymouth. Cornwall County Council. ISBN 978-1898166467.
The original article can be found at Bowden Fort and the edit history here.