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Views from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar, Gosport, Hampshire to Portsmouth

PREVIOUS PAGE- Peace descended once more upon Blockhouse, virtually undisturbed until later in the century except for the building of a magazine in 1748 and renewal of the gun platforms in 1755. Extensive repairs were undertaken in 1779 when the main battery was upgraded to 32 pounders, and a furnace for heating the shot was provided in 1796! But the existing fort was by now inadequate and a rolling programme of modifications was started; the major changes being to reduce the main battery to a more manageable 13 guns in their own casemates, and to open out the right demi-bastion as part of the general strengthening of the land front. The work, started in 1803, had been completed by 1816, just in time for the peace.                  

- By 1845 further extensive modifications were considered necessary and it was perhaps fortuitous that, in 1845, as a result of an underspend, the rebuild at Blockhouse Fort was chosen by the Commanding Royal Engineer at Portsmouth as the single most important item for the defence of Portsmouth harbour. It is from this period that many of the existing buildings date, including the North Bastion. All work was completed by 1848, at a cost of £9,000. However, the updated fort, so important in 1850, was superfluous by 1860, as a result of a new policy in the light of a changed threat and the introduction of effective rifled ordinance. It did not remain unused for long. The Royal Engineers had responsibility for the defence of the main ports, and investigations into the use of defensive minefields had been actively pursued since 1863. In 1873, the Portsmouth Company of Submarine Mining Engineers was established, probably quartered in Blockhouse from the start. Certainly Blockhouse became the main depot, with many new buildings erected during this period, some of which still survive. By 1904, the decision was made to phase out mining in favour of a more modern and much more effective port defence weapon - the submarine.      

- And so, in 1905, Blockhouse became the ‘alma mater’ of the fledging submarine services - an association which formally ended on 30 September 1998. The remaining parts of the Submarine School moved to new premises at HMS Raleigh in 1999, leaving just the Submarine Escape Training Tank as the last link. Adapting once again to new demands, the old Fort is now administered by the Surgeon General’s Department, and has become home to another fledgling organisation - the Royal Defence Medical College, a tri-service Unit responsible for training all Service medical staff - and they have been joined by the Army’s 33 Field Hospital.

Since 1905, much has changed in the establishment. Over the last century a succession of plans have sought, at varying times, to demolish every part of the old fortifications, and still they remain remarkably intact, particularly the 1848 perimeter. A walk round the fort area will provide glimpses of most phases of the history. From the Post Office, probably built on Bernard de Gomme foundation, through the gate keystone of 1708, to the narrow gauge rails of the Mining Engineers tramway and the more obvious modern submarine jetty and buildings. Every part of the establishment has a tale to tell, perhaps hardly surprising for a fortified position whose identified history spans nearly six centuries.                                                     © CHD 2000

I would just like to thank all those at Fort Blockhouse that have assisted me with this part of the site.

If you are involved with an organisation or site in Gosport and you feel it would be possible to produce a section like this, please let me know.