Join us to explore the towering ramparts and deep tunnels of this hidden survivor of the Chatham Defences, whose finest hour came in 1940.
Built between 1877 and 1899, Fort Borstal was among the very last of the Victorian anti French invasion fortifications initiated by the 1859 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom.
Its towering ramparts provided sweeping fields of fire across the River Medway valley, consequently also giving the most stunning views of the Kent countryside. An extensive network of pristine Victorian tunnels reach the outer galleries of the fort, actually passing beneath the surrounding defensive ditch and thus delving deep into the bowels of the earth. Co-located with the infamous Borstal Institution (you will pass its historic but forbidding Edwardian gatehouse, as well as the razor wire-topped fences of modern-day HMP Rochester as you approach the fort), it was unusually built using convict labour.
During both World Wars it's elevated location and strategic position astride the enemy flight path to London, meant it played a key role in defending the nation - its six concrete heavy anti-aircraft gun emplacements, squeezed onto the Victorian earthworks, testify to this. The Battle of Britain was undoubtedly the fort's finest hour and our tour will tell the tale of the City of Rochester gunners that blunted the bomber attacks of Hitler's Blitz on Britain in the summer of 1940.
After the war the Fort fell into ruin and disrepute - being used for what the specially commissioned Conservation Statement enigmatically describes as 'various semi-commercial purposes, some of them clandestine'. Previously hidden secrets will be revealed in this fascinating, and at times startling, guided tour! You have been warned!
Car parking and toilet facilities on site. Cafe serving hot/cold drinks and snacks on site - plus Nucleus wines and fizz on sale for the perfect souvenir of your visit! Tour bookings and full information (including other secret and hidden tunnel tours elsewhere in Rochester). See website www.hiddenhistorytours.uk
Address
Fort Borstal and the Battle of Britain - Ramparts & Tunnels Tour
Fort Road
ME1 3NN
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