Fort Fareham - The Fort Today

The Fort Today

The fort became surplus to requirements in 1965 when it was sold by the Ministry of Defence to Fareham Urban Council. Shortly afterwards, in 1974, a contractor acting for a Property Company, who had leased the fort from Fareham Council, cleared the ramparts of vegetation by bulldozing it flat. All of the earth was stripped from the Haxo casemates, together with the earth forming the parapets and merlons, leaving the gun emplacements and expense magazines devoid of cover. One Haxo casemate was completely removed. The guard room and gateway were demolished together with the stables, sling wagon shed, movable armament shed, vehicle shed and portions of the parados before an injunction prevented further damage. The parade of the fort is entirely covered with Fort Fareham Business Park. The casemates are intact but have been converted to modern industrial units. During the Cold War the main magazine and the adjacent south west caponier served for a brief period as Fareham Borough Emergency Centre to be used by the Council’s chosen few in the event of a nuclear attack. It was also to serve as part of 2 Group 10 Brigade Anti Aircraft Operations Room for the Portsmouth and Southampton Gun Defended Area. Today (in 2012) the ramparts are overgrown and inaccessible, the parapets and gun positions have been removed. The five Moncrieff pits are still extant. The range of Haxo casemates on the southwest and south ramparts are intact but bricked-up. The mortar battery and the caponiers are mostly derelict and overgrown with extensive damage to the brickwork. The main west caponier has suffered years of neglect resulting in extensive damage to its outer brickwork. A serious fire in 1989 caused considerable spalling to the interior roof arches. The gun embrasures, loopholes and sally ports have been blocked up to prevent access by vandals. The iron railings of the access bridge to the fort are still in place although the access road has been widened to two lanes by filling in the ditch parallel to the bridge. The ditch was partially cleared in the late 1980s by Fareham Council with volunteer help from people of the adjoining housing estate (Fort Fareham Conservationists, now disbanded). The surrounding wooded scarp, covered way and glacis now forms an area of wildground which seems to be managed by Fareham Council. A series of paths with seats at intervals provides a continuous walkway around the outer perimeter of the ditch.