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Fort Horsted

Forts in Medway
The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939 45 H5865
The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939 45 H5865

Fort Horsted is a scheduled monument (Monument Number 416040) that lies in the Horsted Valley to the South of Chatham, Kent, England. It is a late 19th-century Land Fort, and one of six constructed around Chatham and Gillingham, Kent to protect HM Dockyard Chatham from attack. Originally proposed in the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom Report, published in 1860, it and the other land defences were omitted as part of general cost cutting with only the coastal defences on the River Medway being retained and completed under the original 1860 proposals. It was not until the mid-1870s that a revised programme was accepted, which included the construction of a convict prison at Borstal, Rochester, to provide low cost labour for the construction of a line of four forts, Fort Borstal, Fort Bridgewood, Fort Horsted and Fort Luton (a further three forts were constructed with the use of convict labour). Its construction started in 1879 and was complete by 1889 after much delay.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fort Horsted (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.358 ° E 0.513 °
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Address

Fort Horsted

Primrose Close
ME4 6HZ
England, United Kingdom
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linkWikiData (Q5471353)
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The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939 45 H5865
The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939 45 H5865
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Nearby Places

Holcombe Manor
Holcombe Manor

Holcombe Manor was built in 1887 as a house by the first mayor of Chatham, George Winch (September 20, 1842 – February 22, 1914), for him and his wife Mary Clarke Bluette to live in. Mary was brought up in the village of Holcombe Rogus, Devon. Winch built the new family house in a near-identical style to that of her childhood home, Holcombe Court in Devon, calling it Holcombe. There was a lake in the grounds, and a sunken Italian garden. The original building was later extended past the conservatories. In 1909 Holcombe Manor was put up for auction. The lots were the house itself, the local football ground, Chatham Town F.C., and the surrounding woodland. This area is now occupied by houses, shops and so on. In 1920 the house became home to Chatham Grammar School for Boys, after which more buildings were built to accommodate students. After 1945 it became a specialist technical school (Chatham Technical School for Boys) and in 1982 it became a grammar school, Chatham Grammar School for Boys.[4] In 2016 the school name was changed in preparation for the planned admission of girls throughout the school. After a consultation with pupils, staff and parents the name "Holcombe Grammar School" was selected. The local authority is now using this name. During the late fifties, pre-fabricated buildings were erected in the grounds to serve as classrooms. These temporary buildings remained on the site for many years. In 2000, construction of the Performing Arts block was started. The last remnants of the sunken garden were destroyed, steps leading out from the Manor's library down to the garden were demolished and the area bricked over. Today the English and Science ("B" Block") stands on the site of the lake. The parent-teacher association of Chatham Grammar School for Boys is called the Holcombe Association - it is believed to be the oldest PTA in England. Students are known as "Holcombians".