Woodland Fort: Difference between revisions
Update of circumstances. The fort is still in use. |
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'''Woodland (or Woodlands) Fort''' is a [[Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom|Royal Commission]] [[Fort]] built in the 1860s as part of [[Lord Palmerston]]'s ring of land defences for [[Plymouth]], England. Currently owned by [[Plymouth City Council]], the site is |
'''Woodland (or Woodlands) Fort''' is a [[Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom|Royal Commission]] [[Fort]] built in the 1860s as part of [[Lord Palmerston]]'s ring of land defences for [[Plymouth]], England. Currently owned by [[Plymouth City Council]], the site is a functioning social club and holds regular events. |
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==History of the fort== |
==History of the fort== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[https://www.facebook.com/woodlandfortcommunitycentre Woodland Fort Facebook page] |
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*[http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/woodland.pdf Victorian Forts data sheet] |
*[http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/woodland.pdf Victorian Forts data sheet] |
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*[http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=26080#.UmE4yFPy2ec Derelict Places Urban Explorers] |
*[http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=26080#.UmE4yFPy2ec Derelict Places Urban Explorers] |
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Revision as of 15:26, 8 May 2019
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2013) |
| Woodland Fort | |
|---|---|
| Plymouth Devon England | |
  Woodland Fort | |
| Coordinates | 50°24′48″N 4°09′25″W / 50.41333°N 4.15694°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Plymouth City Council |
| Open to the public | Partly |
| Condition | Partly derelict |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1863-69 |
| In use | 1869-date |
| Materials | Masonry Earth |
Woodland (or Woodlands) Fort is a Royal Commission Fort built in the 1860s as part of Lord Palmerston's ring of land defences for Plymouth, England. Currently owned by Plymouth City Council, the site is a functioning social club and holds regular events.
History of the fort
Woodland Fort is one of the Palmerston Forts that form Plymouth's north eastern defences, whose purpose was to defend the Royal Dockyard at Devonport from the possibility of a French attack, under the leadership of Napoleon III. Designed by Capain (later Maj General) Edmund Frederick Du Cane,[1] it was built by George Baker and Company and finished by the Royal Engineers.
It was released by the military in 1920,[2] and eventually became Grade II listed, and is currently on Historic Englands' Builds at Risk Register.[3]
Structure of Woodland Fort
Woodland Fort has a trapezoidal shape incorporating many advanced Victorian fort design ideas. The soldiers' barracks are north of the parade ground and the now-ruined cookhouse is to the north west. The magazines are to the north east. There is a caponier to the north west covering the west flank and a counterscarp gallery to the north east. This gallery was accessed via a tunnel heading beneath the ditch and provides flanking fire along the north and east lengths of the defensive ditch. The gatehouse is sited to the south of the fort and retains some of the original drawbridge mechanism.
Woodland Fort today
Unlike its neighbours, Woodland Fort is largely derelict. The former barracks are still in use and maintained by a group of volunteers but other areas of the fort suffer from a lack of maintenance and vandalism. Both the caponier and counterscarp are inaccessible from within the fort. When Crownhill Road was enlarged the ditch to the south of the fort was filled in allowing easy access to the fort on foot although the site is not open to the public.
References
- ^ Freddy Woodward, (1996) The Historic Defences of Plymouth, Cornwall County Council, p177
- ^ https://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/woodlands.pdf
- ^ https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/49866. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
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Bibliography
- Hogg, Ian V (1974). Coast Defences of England and Wales 1856-1956. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153 6353-0.
- Woodward, Freddy (1996). The Historic Defences of Plymouth. Cornwall County Council. ISBN 978-1898166467.