The Centre Bastion we know today was built in 1825 during the expansion of De Gomme’s original Sheerness Lines defences from 1670. It was originally armed with 64 pounder guns only for 2 10” mark 111 RML guns to be added. These were loaded with ammunition from the magazine tunnels below which were originally symmetrically split up into four sections with each side of the system having one tunnel to an ammunition shaft, one section containing two differently sized cartridge stores and a large vault that served as a shelter/side arms store on the East and a shell store on the West. There was originally an artillery store outside the entrances to the magazines too but for some reason it must have been demolished. However as time went on the battery was modified and the Eastern ammunition shaft tunnel was mostly destroyed during the creation of a gun tower being built above it. The remaining part of this tunnel was reused as a generator room. But hold on did someone say gun tower?!
So, in 1899 a practice battery was built and equipped with 4”7 guns only for it to be realised these guns would work better if they were fired from a greater height and so two concrete gun towers were constructed and disguised as martello towers. So no, the towers aren’t actually martellos as they were slightly more modern but they pretty much did the same job (being a pot noodle shaped tower with funs on top) even if they were more modern. Either way the bastion was given a new name: Martello Battery. A third tower was built further back between these to serve as a Battery Command Post and mostly hidden behind the banks of the fort; making it seem smaller from the coast where enemies would approach. This is why the tower’s got the roof of a house along with a chimney. The gun towers were repurposed after 1937 when guns were removed from the battery. The Gun Towers received extensions with one of them becoming an XDO post/mine control tower and the other having an observation post built over it’s roof. I, unfortunately, learnt the hard way that this when trying to access one of this tower’s upper floor’s with a ladder. I agreed to do this with some people who thought there was a weed grow in the tower because they saw a tent outside the fence??(I don’t understand this logic either considering how you can barely access the towers let alone with drug growing equipment). These people said they were gonna walk over to Bastion Number 1 and have a campfire while waiting to meet a mate and I decided to wait by the towers because I didn’t fancy getting seen by security while walking between the fortifications with a ladder. Long story short these guys never came back and answered my messages with attitude so I decided to put the ladder up myself and climb inside only to find myself unable to get past the windowsill due to the world’s most aggressive pigeon inhabiting this floor of the tower. It also turned out this part of the tower was likely the original roof of the tower prior to the construction of the observation post. Real waste of a night but I’ve figured out a way to access the observation post now and will update you if I ever get up there!
Access to the other towers is also very difficult as they were originally reached via metal ladders interlinking bridges between them.
Bastion pillbox at sunset
The gun and command towers.
Shifting lobby at the entrance to the Eastern Cartridge Stores
The Generator in the remains of the Eastern tunnel
Shell store
The Western Cartridge store lighting passages
The West ammunition shaft
Hiding my ladder against the front of the tower
Another view of the tower while taken waiting for those people who never came back
Most anti climactic climb ever. Zoom in to see the world’s worst pigeon.
Oh well, I’ve been at it since I was 7, I’ll get in one day
Thanks for reading👌
So, in 1899 a practice battery was built and equipped with 4”7 guns only for it to be realised these guns would work better if they were fired from a greater height and so two concrete gun towers were constructed and disguised as martello towers. So no, the towers aren’t actually martellos as they were slightly more modern but they pretty much did the same job (being a pot noodle shaped tower with funs on top) even if they were more modern. Either way the bastion was given a new name: Martello Battery. A third tower was built further back between these to serve as a Battery Command Post and mostly hidden behind the banks of the fort; making it seem smaller from the coast where enemies would approach. This is why the tower’s got the roof of a house along with a chimney. The gun towers were repurposed after 1937 when guns were removed from the battery. The Gun Towers received extensions with one of them becoming an XDO post/mine control tower and the other having an observation post built over it’s roof. I, unfortunately, learnt the hard way that this when trying to access one of this tower’s upper floor’s with a ladder. I agreed to do this with some people who thought there was a weed grow in the tower because they saw a tent outside the fence??(I don’t understand this logic either considering how you can barely access the towers let alone with drug growing equipment). These people said they were gonna walk over to Bastion Number 1 and have a campfire while waiting to meet a mate and I decided to wait by the towers because I didn’t fancy getting seen by security while walking between the fortifications with a ladder. Long story short these guys never came back and answered my messages with attitude so I decided to put the ladder up myself and climb inside only to find myself unable to get past the windowsill due to the world’s most aggressive pigeon inhabiting this floor of the tower. It also turned out this part of the tower was likely the original roof of the tower prior to the construction of the observation post. Real waste of a night but I’ve figured out a way to access the observation post now and will update you if I ever get up there!
Access to the other towers is also very difficult as they were originally reached via metal ladders interlinking bridges between them.
Bastion pillbox at sunset
The gun and command towers.
Shifting lobby at the entrance to the Eastern Cartridge Stores
The Generator in the remains of the Eastern tunnel
Shell store
The Western Cartridge store lighting passages
The West ammunition shaft
Hiding my ladder against the front of the tower
Another view of the tower while taken waiting for those people who never came back
Most anti climactic climb ever. Zoom in to see the world’s worst pigeon.
Oh well, I’ve been at it since I was 7, I’ll get in one day
Thanks for reading👌
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