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Fort Amherst, Kent

The naval bases on the Medway in Kent had always been vulnerable to attack by enemy warships. In 1667 the Dutch fleet had raided all the way up to Chatham, and stole the Royal Charles, Charles II's flagship. In the 1750s, during the administration of William Pitt, work began on a series of forts overlooking the river Medway and its naval facilities. Pitt was a turbulent, but hugely energetic man, who, as far as one man was able, personally supervised preparatory work for the fighting of the Seven Years War against France. An echo of his energy is still felt at Fort Amherst.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work continued on Fort Amherst for many years, particularly when invasion by Napoleon was a threat. A vast network of tunnels was built by Cornish tin miners to link various areas of the fort together. This work was complete by 1805, and created the largest fortification in Britain, covering 142 acres of hillside above Chatham. It is not known quite how extensive the tunnel complex really is, though site staff suggest a network so big that it actually linked together Fort Amherst, and Fort Pitt on the other side of the river Medway. They refer to a short article in an edition of The Times from 1860 mentioning this tunnel link under the river, though no physical evidence for it has ever been found.

Fort Amherst was not, in the event, required during the Napoleonic wars, but it survived demolition, and was used as a major civil defense headquarters during the Second World War. Civil Defense use continued until 1956, when the fort was abandoned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About twenty acres of the original fort site was purchased from the MOD by the Fort Amherst and Lines Trust in 1980. Some sections of tunnel have now been excavated and restored, and give an idea of how vast the fort once was. Restoration work recreates both the atmosphere of the Napoleonic era, and that of the Second World War. There are many poignant details to take in during a tunnel tour. In the literally minded times when the Cornish tin miners did their work, they worried about digging down towards the devil. They protected themselves by carving an angel into the chalk they dug through, which they then touched each time they passed. A carved angel still survives in one of the tunnel walls, as do scratched memorials to miners who were killed during building work. The tunnels are also revealing in relation to much earlier periods in history. A huge airshaft shows evidence of the digging of a "dene hole", a chalk mine for neolithic farmers requiring a supply of chalk with which to make their land more suitable for lime loving plants.

Directions: Fort Amherst is just off the A231 in Chatham town centre. Follow signs for Chatham Martime off the town centre ring road, and then be ready to turn right into Fort Pitt as you go up the hill. Click here for an interactive map centred on Fort Amherst.

Address: Fort Amherst, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4UB.

Opening Times: Fort Amherst is open over Easter and then every Sunday and Bank Holiday from the end of May to the end of September 2010, 10am - 4pm. Entrance to the park land is free. There are tunnel tours roughly once an hour during opening hours, with extended two hour tours at 12pm and 2pm.

There is also a somewhat eccentric interest in "paranormal" investigations in the dark and spooky tunnels. These usually take place on the first Friday of the month. Use contact details below for information.

Access: Level access is limited. Contact the site before you visit. The park land has many steep slopes.

Contact:

telephone: 01634 847747

web site: http://www.fortamherst.com/index.html