| Summary : Infantry Redoubt, 1890, with innovative earthworks which influenced the design of late 19th century defence sites. Most of the earthworks are gone, but some structure remains. The design, the Twydall Profile, reflected the increase of infantry firepower from magazine rifles and machine guns, and the value of simple defensive earthworks had been demonstrated at the siege of Plevna in Bulgaria. This, and its sister redoubt at Fort Grange, were infantry redoubts at the northern end of the Chatham ring of forts. It was intended that concealed artillery would have been sited between the redoubts, with mobile artilery to the rear or in the flanks. The redoubts remained in active use in World War I, when this redoubt was armed with two 1-pounder guns on Naval carriages. |
More information : [TQ 796 681] Woodlands Redoubt, 1890. Infantry redoubt of 1890.
(1)
The Royal Commission of 1860 recommended that forts be built
at Grange and Woodland to mount thirty guns and contain a
garrison of three hundred men. However, it appears that
government expense cuts resulted in the construction of only
small, experimental redoubts. Woodlands Redoubt was surrounded
by a dry ditch and would have had a drawbridge which could
have been raised to form a shield in the absence of gates. A
few yards back from the gateway would have been a parade or
yard facing onto which were constructed a line of small
casements serving as stores, magazines and accomodation for
the defending garrison. At Woodlands Redoubt the casements
comprise thirteen rooms in a line protected to the front
against enemy fire by an earthen glacis. There were no
apparent positions from which artillery could have been fired,
so it would appear that the fort could offer only small arms
fire. The redoubt is in a damaged state, the moats being
practically filled in but the casements at Woodlands remain
and the open gateways. Until recently (1976), Woodlands
Redoubt was used as a small factory. (2) |