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Tilbury Fort, Essex

 

When I visit castles I often find myself thinking of the earth banks and wooden palisades of the first Iron Age castles . These structures were as much about symbolic power as physical strength, growing as they did out of the ritualistic earth banks of religious sites. Tilbury Fort in Essex is particularly interesting in this regard because it actually consists largely of earth banks, as demonstrated by this photograph.

Tilbury Fort appears very functional, defending the approach to London along the Thames. Henry the Eighth first built a fort here, and his daughter Elizabeth the First gave her famous rousing speech to her troops near the fort in 1588 as the Spanish Armada approached along the Channel. No doubt the backdrop of Tilbury lent additional power to Elizabeth's words. But as Elizabeth was to say in her speech, strength does not lie simply in physical presence; it is also a matter of symbols, state of mind, and the way people think:

 

"I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too..."

The present fort at Tilbury was begun in 1672 during the reign of Charles the Second, and is now the most impressive example of seventeenth century military engineering remaining in Britain. The castle is a massive complex of earth banks, walls, moats and tunnels, most of which survive intact. An exhibition illustrating the fort's history is staged in two huge powder magazine rooms.

Tilbury did its job by never being used in battle. It was involved in supplying the armed forces, and as an anti aircraft station during the Second World War, but it never saw any fighting . The worst blood shed at the fort occurred in 1776 when a Kent-Essex cricket match turned nasty and ended in a fight. A cricketer and the sergeant of the fort were killed.

Tilbury, on the north bank of the Thames is only a few miles from London, but strangely it has the feeling of a wild frontier. Paul Pattison, Senior Archeological Investigator at English Heritage says as much in an interview you can listen to at Tilbury Fort: "It can be a wild and cold and forbidding place, even today, and we're only a few miles from London. It is still a bit of a frontier in many ways I think, even though it is not defending anything anymore. It has that isolated wild feel about it."

 

View of the Thames from Tilbury Fort

Wild, cold and forbidding are all fitting descriptions of Tilbury. My long suffering daughter didn't like it at all! Standing up on the wall looking out at the grey Thames it was interesting to reflect on how close the centre of the country is to this wild periphery. If you are seeking Britain, seeking its heart and centre, then you will also find its wild frontier. Standing at Tilbury the preconceptions we have about national identity seemed to loosen. Tilbury doesn't defend anything anymore. Today's castle walls are diffuse; they consist of diplomatic manoeuvre, electronic surveillance, spy satellites hundreds of miles above the earth. Castle walls, however, remain as symbols of the security we continue to seek.

 

Opening Times: from 1st April to 31st October the fort is open every day, 10am - 5pm. From 1st November to 20th March the fort is open Thursday to Monday, 10am - 4pm. It is closed 24th - 26th December and 1st January.

 

Directions: Tilbury Fort is five miles east of Tilbury off the A126. Click here for an interactive map centred on Tilbury Fort.

Access: for wheelchair users there is level access within the fort. Adapted toilet facilities are available. There are some steep slopes in the grounds.

Contact:

telephone: 01375 858489

web site: www.english-heritage.org.uk