Cliffe Fort

By the late 1850s, Britain and France were locked in an arms race. A new generation of increasingly accurate and powerful guns had been developed (of the Rifled Muzzle Loader (RML) and Rifled Breech Loader (RBL) types), mounted on fast-moving, manoeuvrable steam-powered ironclad warships such as the French La Gloire and the British . By this time Britain's coastal defences had not been substantially upgraded since the Napoleonic Wars. A number of forts built between the 16th and late 18th centuries stood in the area around Tilbury and Gravesend, west of Cliffe Fort, but like many other existing fortifications in Britain they were by now largely obsolete. The Royal Commission recommended…

Cliffe Fort was constructed between 1861 and 1870 for an estimated cost of around £163,000. Its original plan called for 13 guns to be mounted on the fort's terreplein or roof, three more to be mounted en barbette and two for land defence. Granite-faced casemates with iron shields would house another 20 guns below. The front would form a quadrant protected by three flanking caponiers for musketry, with two bastioned fronts formed by the gorge building. In addition to the main magazine, the interior of the fort would house four shell filling rooms and four expense magazines. The entire fort would rest on a bed of concrete 7 ft thick. However, the problems of building on a marshy site next to…