| Summary : Fort Victoria was originally built as a Henrician coastal fort, known as Sharpenode Bulwark. Constructed in 1545-7, Sharpenode was built as part of Henry VIII's network of coastal fortifications to defend against French and Spanish invasion. From its position on Sconce Point it could control the whole of the Needles Passage and approaches to Yarmouth. The early Tudor fort fell into disrepair and was repaired or even replaced in 1587 by Sir George Carey, Captain of the Island. By 1623 the defences were once again in a state of disrepair and in the 1850s the blockhouse was completely rebuilt as Fort Victoria. Fort Victoria was rearmed in the 1880s and was used as a barracks and military storehouse. At the outbreak of the Second World War the fort was used as a training battery for coastal gunners and was equipped with torpedo tubes. It is now a museum and part of Fort Victoria Country Park.Sharpenode Bulwark was a square timber and earth structure with two angle bastions or flankers. The square front was on the seaward side to mount the heavy guns and the angle bastions were on the landward side to provide flanking fire. It replaced the nearby Worsley's Tower and was one of the first fortification to be built in the new Italianate Style of angle bastions.The original Henrician designed fortification was replaced in the 1850s by a redan-shaped transitional fort, known as Fort Victoria. It was constructed in the 1850s, and is brick-built with concrete gun-floors and several casemates to protect the guns. It was in active service until the 1860s and was rearmed with more modern armament in the 1880s. |
More information : (SZ 339 898) Fort Victoria (NAT) (1)
Fort Victoria (SZ337 898). Although the 1859 Commission were not enthusiastic about this work and it was more or less replaced by new batteries on the heights above, it nevertheless managed to survive and become a functioning part of the defences. Built in the 1850s, it is of brick construction with concrete gunfloors and casemated in an early fashion, the casemates being provided with wide apertures for the guns and no form of shield. It was in active use in the middle 1860s since a number of trials of various suggested methods of rangefinding were carried out there but it was not until about 1880, when the rest of the defences had been dealt with, that more modern armament, in the shape of a number of 10in RML guns, was installed.
The greatest disadvantage of Victoria was its low site, barely above the high water mark. The interior of the work can be seen into from passing ships, and hence it was relegated to a training role as an outstation of Golden Hill School of Gunnery.
At present the fort is undergoing renovation with the intention of turning it into a museum based on the central theme of the island's defences and showing the fort as it was in its hey-day. (2)
The original fortification here was in the form of an earthen bulwark with flankers, called Sharpenode Bulwark. It was one of the first works to be built in the new Italianate Style with angle bastions. It was a great improvement on Worsley's Tower, which it replaced, and it was itself improved over the years until its final incarnation as Fort Victoria. (3)
Please refer to this source for a history of the fort and its armaments. (4)
A brick-built fort, triangular in shape, to protect the western Solent. On the outbreak of WW2, the fort was reactivated as a training battery for coastal gunners. Fixed torpedo tubes were set up by the Royal Navy. A pillbox was sited at the water's edge on the W side (now destroyed). Fort Victoria Country Park, nr. Yarmouth. (5)
Sharpenode Bulwark, situated on Sconce Point, was a square earthwork with two angle bastions. It was rebuilt various times and became Fort Victoria in the 1840s. (6)
The fort is constructed of various casemates to protect against round shot from the flank along the whole line of guns and its brick vaulting provided overhead protection against sea attack. The seaward faces of the fort were defended by a deep, stone-lined ditch and the top of the inner side was curved to prevent grappling hooks from hooking on.
Its main armaments were:
Eleven 10 inch guns
Ten 68 pounder smooth bore guns
Six 32 pounder smooth bore guns
By 1861 the fort was regarded as a military barracks and storehouse.
In 1891 electrical contact mines were laid at Fort Victoria by the Submarine Mining Company. During the two World Wars the fort was used mainly as a landing point and for storage. Fixed torpedo tubes were fitted to Fort Victoria pier and it was also used as a training base.
In 1962 the fort lost its status as a military garrison. (7)
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