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Report - - Fort Gilkicker, Gosport, December 6th 2014 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Fort Gilkicker, Gosport, December 6th 2014

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man_gone_wrong

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Set off at stupid o'clock and made my long journey to Gosport from Norfolk. Met a couple of guys down there and on we went to gain access to a well known hospital in the area. Unfortunately it didnt go to plan as we thought it would and got busted by secca and had a nice little chat with the local fuzz :D. Now while we was sat, in the freezing cold, waiting for the fuzz I asked the secca if there were any local abandonment as I had already made the long journey and nowhere else planned. Being the nice(ish) guy that he was he told us about a local place just down the road, Fort Gilkicker

After our little chat with the local fuzz and being followed by them to our cars we had a little drive down the road to the fort. It was still dark and the sun still hadnt rose so we headed for the beach for the sunrise by the fort. After taking the obligatory sunrise shot we climbed the mound surrounding the fort and gained access by one of the many ridiculously easy access points. When we got in we realised the place was in a really bad state of disrepair, surprised it hadnt collapsed already. There is scaffolding holding certain parts of the place together and looks like a strong wind would push it over.

There was bits and bobs knocking about hinting at housing redevelopment but it looked like they had abandoned the idea. The website of the company says "The restoration of Fort Gilkicker will transform this Victorian coastal fort on Stokes Bay into 22 stunning 3-storey luxury houses". To be fair there wasnt a lot here, most of it is not accessible and bits you dont want to risk your life getting to. I was so tired after the journey I kept choosing the wrong settings on the camera and my shots arent that great. When the sun finally rose and warmed the ground up my lens steamed up so thought sod it, pack the camera away lol

History of the place

The Fort, a Grade II* Listed Building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, is a unique piece of Victorian engineering and of immense importance to the history of coastal defence in the United Kingdom.

Fort Gilkicker is a ‘Palmerston’ Fort, so called because it was commissioned in the 19th century by the then Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, as a gun battery to protect the waters around Portsmouth, which was the most important deep sea anchorage in the British Empire, from the threat of invasion.

Built on the site of the earlier Fort Monckton Auxiliary Battery, construction commenced in 1863 and was completed in 1871. It consisted of 22 gun emplacements in a semi-circular series of granite-faced casemates designed to sweep the approaches to Portsmouth harbour with devastating gun fire.

Fort Gilkicker was stood down in 1956 when Coastal Defence was abolished​

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WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
This looks quite interested, even if it is quite stripped. At least you made the most out of a bad situation :thumb

Why did you wait around and not just run away from the secca? He can't chase you in three different directions at once :p:
 

DrGonzo

Hello Officer
28DL Full Member
That looks pretty tidy compared to some of the Palmerston forts down this way. Nice report man.
 

man_gone_wrong

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
This looks quite interested, even if it is quite stripped. At least you made the most out of a bad situation :thumb

Why did you wait around and not just run away from the secca? He can't chase you in three different directions at once :p:

Its not bad just not exactly what we had gone down there for. Shame its best days are gone now

We had heard about a secca there with a big dog and ive been told lets it off its leash. Wether he should or shouldnt thats a different matter but all I was worried about was possibly have a dog chase me and rip a chunk out of me lol. Turns out it wasnt him, instead the secca was alright but he had literally started his walk around as we walked round the corner and met him lol. Couldnt be bothered running away and facing the 20ft fence again lol
 

man_gone_wrong

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
That looks pretty tidy compared to some of the Palmerston forts down this way. Nice report man.

Cheers bud!

First fort ive been in thats abandoned. Only other one ive been to is Fort Paull up North but thats a museum, still worth a look though
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
Its not bad just not exactly what we had gone down there for. Shame its best days are gone now

We had heard about a secca there with a big dog and ive been told lets it off its leash. Wether he should or shouldnt thats a different matter but all I was worried about was possibly have a dog chase me and rip a chunk out of me lol. Turns out it wasnt him, instead the secca was alright but he had literally started his walk around as we walked round the corner and met him lol. Couldnt be bothered running away and facing the 20ft fence again lol

I get what you mean, and when you're busy exploring all sorts of things fly through your head, but they can't set dogs on you... Unless they don't like their job anymore of course :D Sounds like you were unfortunate bumping into him. Better luck next time though! I thought this was well worth a visit mind, so in a sense your day turned out quite well.
 

Deecee

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Walk the dogs around there and always wondered what its like inside, now i know,

Its very similar to many of the other forts in the area, but still worth a play, ive seen the images they are looking to convert it into and i know what i prefer.
Would be a great place for a "proper" fashion shoot
 

man_gone_wrong

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I get what you mean, and when you're busy exploring all sorts of things fly through your head, but they can't set dogs on you... Unless they don't like their job anymore of course :D Sounds like you were unfortunate bumping into him. Better luck next time though! I thought this was well worth a visit mind, so in a sense your day turned out quite well.

Im not a fan of dogs so the idea of one running at me scares the crap out of me lol. This place was defo worth the visit, next time I will go when its less cold and hopefully get some better shots without the lens misting up lol. Unfortunately every explore after this was a fail one way or another plus my car broke dwn on the way to brum hahaha
 

man_gone_wrong

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Walk the dogs around there and always wondered what its like inside, now i know,

Its very similar to many of the other forts in the area, but still worth a play, ive seen the images they are looking to convert it into and i know what i prefer.
Would be a great place for a "proper" fashion shoot

Yeah the new homes are going to look a bit gash arent they, shame they couldnt use it for something else rather than expensive homing. It would be brilliant for a fashion shoot :)
 
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