Slough Fort is a small artillery fort that was built at Allhallows-on-Sea in the north of the Hoo Peninsula in Kent. Constructed in 1867, the D-shaped fort was intended to guard a vulnerable stretch of the River Thames against possible enemy landings during a period of tension with France. Its seven casemates initially accommodated rifled breech loading guns, which were replaced by the turn of the century by more powerful breech-loaders on disappearing carriages, mounted in concrete wing batteries on either side of the fort. It was likely one of the smallest of the forts constructed as a result of the 1860s invasion scare.

The government's response to the increased threat was to appoint a Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, which published a far-reaching report in 1860. It recommended that many existing forts should be upgraded or rebuilt entirely, and that new forts should be constructed to guard particularly strategic or vulnerable points along the coast. In all, around 70 forts and batteries were constructed around the English coast as a result of the Royal Commission's report. Slough Fort was probably one of the smallest of these.

Construction

The position of Slough Fort (which took its name from the now-disappeared farmsteads of Upper and Lower Slough, just west of the fort) was dictated by its position on a ridge overlooking a slope leading down to the riverside. It was the only point along a fourteen-mile stretch of the river between Cliffe to the west and Grain to the east where a landing could be effected, due to the marshes along the rest of the shoreline. A fort situated at that point could thus provide an effective defence against an enemy attempting to land here. It also served to fill the gap between the upriver forts (Cliffe, Coalhouse and Shornemead) and those at the mouth of the Medway (Grain and Garrison Point). It took the form of a semicircular arc of seven casemates facing the river with a defensive ditch in front. Each casemate was faced in granite with magazines below providing ammunition via hoist shafts. A defensible block constructed of Kentish ragstone closed off the arc and provided the fort's domestic accommodation. The fort's main entrance is at the centre of the defensible block. A small stone-paved parade ground occupied the centre of the fort. After it was built, the ground behind the fort was raised and made into a glacis. On the roof of the fort, accessed from the ground level by two spiral staircases, there was an observation post protected by a banquette (an elevated step to facilitate rifle fire against attackers at close range).

Operational history

right|thumb|Slough Fort in an 1870 engraving

Slough Fort was initially armed with seven 7-inch rifled breech loaders (RBLs) positioned in the casemates. It was manned by three officers, one NCO and 75 other ranks.

The Army discontinued the use of the fort in 1920 and in 1929 it was sold off and converted into a small zoo. After the war it belonged to the Allhallows Estate Company before passing to Strood Rural District Council. Plans were advanced to demolish it but the cost proved prohibitive. It was instead converted into a riding stables in the early 1960s. The Slough Fort Preservation Trust is working to repair the fort and increase public access.

References

  • Slough Fort Preservation Trust
  • Palmerston Forts Society