Constructed 1888 to 1889 to defend the deepwater anchorage at Browndown Point. It was originally armed with two 12.5-inch RML guns, later two 9.2-inch BL guns. It acted in conjunction with the nearby No.2 Battery at Stokes Bay. It is within the perimeter of Browndown Training Camp and is not viewable by the public.
Constructed circa 1783 this fortification was upgraded in the 1880s to mount six 64pr RMLs. Its auxiliary battery at Gilkicker Point became Fort Gilkicker. The fort is still held by the Army as their No.1 Training Establishment and is not viewable by the public.
No.2 Battery flanked the western end of the great defensive moat that was constructed 1857 to 1861 along the length of Stokes Bay. It held eight 7-inch RBl and two 7-inch RML guns in 1898. In 1901 it was upgraded with two 6-inch BL guns which worked in conjunction with the two guns at Browndown battery to command the deep water anchorage off Browndown Point. The battery is owned by Gosport Council and is empty and not generally opened to the public
Fort Brockhurst was completed in 1862 as one of the line of forts protecting the western approaches to Gosport and Portsmouth Harbour. It was fully armed by 1893 and saw much of its life as a depot for various regiments. It is now owned and maintained by English Heritage as a storage facility but, amazingly, it is not opened regularly to the public.
Constructed between 1859 and 1862 as one of the five Gosport Advanced Line forts, Rowner saw service as a barracks and training facility. It was used to prepare tropps for the Boer war. During the Second World War it was used by the RAF as a servicing unit for the nearby airfield. After the war the Navy used it as a degaussing establishment. It is still in Naval occupation and can be viewed by arrangement with HMS Sultan and on Heritage Open days.
Grange was built to an identical plan with Rowner and Brockhurst. It served as a barracks and headquarters for the Garrison Artillery until it was given to the Royal Flying Corps as their No.1 station in 1914. It served as headquarters for 7 Group Coastal Command from 1940 to 1945 and was home for the first British Helicopter Squadron. Now part of HMS Sultan it is not viewable by the public.
Fort Gomer was the very first of the polygonal fortifications to be constructed (1853-58) at Portsmouth. As such it held a unique place in the history of British Fortification. It served as a barracks during the Victorian period and this continued through both wars. In 1939 the 3rd Field Training Unit occupied the fort. The 7th. Royal Tank regiment were there in the 1950s. Sadly Gosport Council demolished it in 1964 and nothing remains. Very few photographs of it exist.
Fort Elson was the second polygonal forts to be constructed as part of the Gosport Advanced Lines. Adopted and updated by the 1860 Royal Commission it is now the oldest surviving fort at Gosport from that period. It lies within the boundary of the RN armament facility and is sadly decaying and being allowed to collapse under a plan of 'Controlled Ruination'. There is no prospect of it ever being viewable by the public.
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