Palmerston Forts

Palmerston Forts

The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.

The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about concerned at the strength of the French Navy,cite journal
author = Brown, D.
year = 2006
title = Palmerston and Anglo--French Relations, 1846--1865
journal = Diplomacy & Statecraft
volume = 17
issue = 4
pages = 675–692
doi = 10.1080/09592290600942918] and strenuous debate in parliament about whether the cost could be justified.cite journal
author = King-hall, S.
year = 1951
title = A Defence Debate Ninety Years Ago
journal = Parliamentary Affairs
issue = 2
pages = 297–304
url = http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/V/2/297
accessdate = 2008-06-08] The name comes from their association with Lord Palmerston, who was Prime Minister at the time and promoted the idea.

The works were also known as Palmerston's Follies as, by the time they were completed the threat (if it had ever existed) had passed, largely due to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, [cite web|url=http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/hicks_portsdown_forts.asp|title='Palmerston's Follies': a reply to the French 'threat'|last=Hicks|first=Peter|publisher=Napoleon.org|accessdate=2008-06-08] and furthermore the technology of the guns had become out-of-date. They were the most costly and extensive system of fixed defences undertaken in Britain in peacetime. [cite web|url=http://www.armouries.org.uk/collections/history-of-the-collection/museum-history/fort-nelson-history|title=Fort Nelson History|work=Royal Armouries|accessdate=2008-06-08]

The defenses were built to defend a number of key areas of the British, Irish and Channel Island coastline, in particular areas around military bases, including:

*Alderney
*Belfast
*Berehaven
*Bristol Channel
*Chatham
*River Clyde
* Cork
*Dover
*Isle of Wight
*Milford Haven
*North Thames and East Anglia
*North East England
*Plymouth
*Portland Harbour
*Portsmouth
*Lough Swilly
*South Coast (other than those included in specific areas)

References

See also

* Palmerston Forts: No Man's Land Fort, Spitbank Fort, St Helens Fort and Horse Sand Fort.
* Maunsell Forts from WW2

External links

* [http://www.palmerstonforts.org.uk/ Palmerston Forts Society]


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