Shoreham Redoubt - Later History

Later History

The fort was garrisoned by the 1st Sussex Volunteer Artillery, who were considered to be one of the top volunteer artillery units and won a prize for the accuracy of their shooting in 1865.
A review in 1873 found that the fort's armaments were then obsolete and its construction inadequate. The fort was also considered to be too vulnerable to attack from the land. It was recommended that a new stronger and more defensible fort be built on a site nearby, but this was never done. Towards the end of the Nineteenth century new guns were installed.
In the early Twentieth century the fort served as an open-air film studio for early silent movies, with four films made there in 1914.
During World War 2 the fort became an Emergency Coastal Battery with searchlights and artillery. After the War the barrack block was demolished and a coastguard tower built on the gun platform. A restoration was undertaken by West Sussex County Council in 1977 to 1978.