Fort Victoria, Isle of Wight

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox Military Structure Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England ({{#if:SZ339898|[[Ordnance Survey National Grid|{{#if:Template:Yesno|Grid|grid}} reference]] {{#invoke:Ordnance Survey coordinates|oscoord|SZ339898_region:GB_scale:25000|SZ339898|name=}}}}), built to guard the Solent. The earliest fort on the site was a coastal fort known as Sharpenode Bulwark built in 1545–1547 by Henry VIII, but these defences had fallen into disrepair by the 17th century. Fort Victoria was built in the 1850s. It was a brick-built triangular fort with two seaward batteries meeting at a right angle. It remained in use until 1962. Parts of the fort were subsequently demolished; areas of the fort that were preserved have become part of Fort Victoria Country Park.

Location

Fort Victoria is situated on Sconce Point west of Yarmouth. Its position overlooks the whole of the Needles Passage and approaches to Yarmouth,<ref name="pastscape"/> and is almost opposite Hurst Castle on the mainland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Around Template:Convert to the southwest lies Fort Albert.

Earlier forts

The earliest fort on the site was Sharpenode Bulwark (also Sharpnode or Sharpnore) which was constructed in 1545–1547 as part of Henry VIII's coastal defences.<ref name="pastscape">Template:PastScape</ref> It was about 700 metres east from an earlier fortification known as Worsley's Tower.<ref name="harrington">Template:Cite book</ref> Sharpenode Bulwark was a square earthwork with two angle bastions.<ref name="harrington"/> It fell into disrepair and was repaired or even replaced in 1587 by George Carey, Captain of the Island.<ref name="pastscape"/> This became known as Carey's Sconce.<ref name="bb">Template:Cite book</ref> The defences are said to have fallen into disrepair by 1623,<ref name="pastscape"/> and at the beginning of the 19th century only ruins remained.<ref name="bb"/>

Fort Victoria

Fort Victoria was built in the 1850s. It is a brick-built triangular fort with concrete gun-floors.<ref name="pastscape"/> It has two seaward batteries meeting at a right angle.<ref name="nhle">Template:National Heritage List for England</ref> It became a functioning part of the new batteries on the heights above.<ref name="pastscape"/> At the same time a pier was built to serve the fort.<ref name=Easdown164>Template:Cite book</ref> It effectively became a military barracks and storehouse until rearmed with more modern armament in the 1880s.<ref name="pastscape"/> During the First and Second World Wars the fort saw service as a landing point and for storage.<ref name="pastscape"/> Between the wars it saw little use with the royal engineers leaving in 1920.<ref name=Easdown164 />

In the 1930s a proposal was made to run a car ferry between Fort Victoria and Keyhaven on the mainland.<ref name=Easdown238 /> An act of Parliament was obtained, the Pier and Harbour Order (Keyhaven) Confirmation Act 1936 (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. lxxxi), but a lack of funds meant the proposal was abandoned in 1938.<ref name=Easdown238>Template:Cite book</ref>

At the start of World War II the fort was used as a training battery for coastal gunners and it was equipped with torpedo tubes mounted on the pier.<ref name="pastscape"/><ref name=Easdown164 /> After the war it was used as a National Service training station.<ref name="iowc"/> Its military use came to an end in 1962.<ref name="pastscape"/>

What remains today is a fragment of the fort.<ref name="nhle"/> The rear barracks blocks were demolished in 1969 to provide material for sea defences and Isle of Wight Council purchased what remained of the fort soon afterwards.<ref name="iowc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The fort is now a Grade II Listed Building.<ref name="nhle"/>

Fort Victoria Country Park

File:Fort victoria pier.JPG

The remains of Fort Victoria Pier

Today the fort is part of Fort Victoria Country Park which occupies 20 hectares of woodland and shore on the northwest coast of the Isle of Wight.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The fort houses a number of attractions including a Reptilarium, Visitor Centre and a model railway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The derelict pier can still be seen.<ref name=Easdown164 />

Publications

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Fort Victoria website
• Isle of Wight Council Countryside Service, including Fort Victoria pages
• Island Planetarium
• Archaeology Discovery Centre & Museum
• Victorian Forts data sheet
• Fort Victoria Model Railway