More information : (Centred TQ 908755) Garrison Point Fort (NAT)
(TQ 91557528) The Moat (NAT)
(TQ 91347532) Centre Bastion (NAT) (1)
TQ 908756 Sheerness Defences. (2)
The Sheerness Line form part of the system of bastioned earthworks enclosing the dockyards and Blue Town (see plan). Constructed in 1780 and 1796, they replaced the late 17th century defences. Ramparts unrevetted apart from within moat. Mostly in good condition but NE lines much altered in the 19th century and later. The earliest defences of 1545 were at Sheerness and comprised a simple bulwark at Sheerness.
Scheduled. (The southernmost portion, No 2 & 3 bastions, not included in the scheduled area). (3-6)
Sheerness Lines. (7)
The defensive potential of Sheerness to command the Thames estuary and the entrance to the Medway had been recognised from an early date for bulwarks had existed in the area since 1551. In 1665, during the Second Dutch War, extensive defence works were built at Sheerness and and plans drawn up to build naval facilities adjacent to the fortification. In 1667 a Dutch raid destroyed the partially completed fort and dockyard. In August 1667 work began to rebuild it on a much larger scale (See Illustration Card for plans of the dockyard and fort in 1698, 1738 and 1800). By the 1790s the landward defences of the fort were obsolete due to the presence of Blue Town on its flank. Construction of a 2nd outer defence system, encircling Blue Town on its landward side had therefore been started in the 1780s Fort Townsend, part of this system, existed in 1782. The obsolete defences were levelled and the land raised 6 ft, apart from a section along the shore facing the Thames, which was retained by the Board of Ordnance. (8)
The Sheerness defences, comprising the Indented Lines, Sheerness Lines, Garrison Point Fort and their associated features were surveyed by RCHME survey staff in April 1993. Details can be found in the Project Archive. (9)
Description of the centre Bastion Battery (10) |