Horse Sand Fort is one of the larger Royal Commission sea forts in the Solent off Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is 240 feet (73 m) across, built between 1865 and 1880, with two floors and a basement and armour-plated all round.
The original armament was to have been 45 10-inch and 44 12.5-inch rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns on the gun floors and 10 12" RMLs on the roof in five turrets. In fact the turrets were never built and the limited space meant the 12.5-inch guns had to be operated with less than full charges of powder. In 1882, 12-inch rifled breech-loading guns were placed in alternate bays.
Horse Sand Fort was built on a ring of masonry consisting of large concrete blocks with an outer skin of granite blocks, the interior being filled with clay and shingle and covered with a thick layer of concrete. The lower foundation walls of fort are 59 feet (18 m) thick. The fort is split into 3 levels with top measuring 204 feet 9 inches (62.41 m) in diameter. The floors would have originally provided storage of armoury and guns and the things needed to sustain the men that were stationed on site. The top of the fort consisted of a lighthouse and various chimneys and ventilators. The fort has its own Artesian well (aquifer) which provided fresh water. The seaward side of the fort was covered in a heavy iron armoured plating to protect it from sea borne attack. Access to the fort was via a wooden decked landing stage supported on cast iron piles.
Other sea forts include Spitbank Fort, St Helens Fort and No Mans Land Fort. During the second world war extensive submarine defences were built in the form of large concrete blocks running about 6 feet (1.8 m) below sea level from the fort to the shore at Southsea. With only a single narrow gap to allow small craft to pass through, this barrier (and a much shorter one running south from No Man's Land Fort towards Ryde Sands) remains as the cost of demolition is deemed too high.
In March 2012, the fort was purchased by Clarenco (owners of No Man's Land Fort and Spitbank Fort) and is to be converted into a museum.
Famous quotes containing the words horse, sand and/or fort:
“God help the horse, and the driver too!
And the people and beasts who have never a friend!
For the driver easily might have been you,
And the horse be me by a different end!
And nobody knows how their days will cease!
And the poor, when they’re old, have little of peace!”
—James Kenneth Stephens (1882–1950)
“Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast. If a man habituated to a narrow circle of cares and pleasures, out of which he seldom travels, step beyond it, though for never so brief a space, his departure from the monotonous scene on which he has been an actor of importance would seem to be the signal for instant confusion.... The mine which Time has slowly dug beneath familiar objects is sprung in an instant; and what was rock before, becomes but sand and dust.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“You have created a monster and it will destroy you.”
—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)