Stack Rock Fort is a fort built on a small island in the Milford Haven Waterway, Pembrokeshire. A 3-gun fort was built between 1850 and 1852, and then upgraded in 1859 with a new building that completely encased the original gun tower.
This was such a fun trip! @SpiderMonkey and I had made our way down to South Wales the night before and stayed overnight in my van nearby, to be greeted the next morning by our good friend Bob from Exploring The Unbeaten Path and Semples Frederick who had both travelled overnight from The Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Parking up on the beach (literally on the beach!), we soon cracked open a few tins and set about inflating the boat ready to sail towards the distant fort, almost 2 miles away. Launch sites are quite limited around the area owing to the high cliffs along much of the coastline, and the LNG terminal spanning a fair bit of the coast nearest to the fort, but the one we picked was fantastic!
Making our way out to sea, the weather was absolutely beautiful - perfectly clear skies, the sun shining, the bright blue sea sparkling and clear, and the surroundings were stunning. If you ever get a chance, I would highly recommend visiting Pembrokeshire, even if not visiting the fort, just to see the landscapes. Anyway, it took a couple of trips to get all four of us to the island, along with all our camera gear, camping stuff and enough supplies to last the next 24 hours. Upon arrival we were very relieved to find the door into the fort was open. If it were not for that we would have had quite a mission getting in, what with it being a fort and all.
We spent the rest of the day just chilling on the fort, BBQ'd some food, had a look around and watched the boats go by, all while drinking plenty of ciders and wodka (Belgian Aldi's own brand vodka!), culminating in the maddest four-man rave around a campfire Wales has ever witnessed. Those Europeans.... they crazy! Eventually we settled down for the night to be awoken very early by the seagulls. Those bloody seagulls!!
This was by far my favourite camping explore to date. Bob put together a fantastic video documenting not only the fort, but also our whole adventure. It's worth a watch...
History
A fortification at Stack Rock was first proposed by Thomas Cromwell in 1539 to protect the waterway, although this would not actually come to fruition at the time. Similar proposals were made in 1748 when Lewis Morris carried out a survey of Milford Haven, reporting on shipwrecks and navigation and recommending that a small fort be built here. Another survey followed in 1817. The Royal Dockyard at Pembroke Dock was felt to be in need of defence from the sea, and in 1850 construction commenced, being completed in 1852.
The fort was originally designed for two decks of artillery casemates, but only the first floor was completed and used as a gun deck. The first floor accommodated a garrison of one officer and thirty men. Disarmed in 1929, it was first placed on the market in 1932 and sold for £160. In 2005 it was sold once more for £150,000. Concerns over the security of a nearby LNG jetty were raised in 2013, following the discovery of potential trespasser activity. The fort was sold in 2020, and again in January 2021 for £191,000 to a community interest company.
The fort housed three 32-pounder guns, as well as a single 12-pounder for protection of the walls of the dock. From 1859 to 1871, the armaments were changed to sixteen 10-inch and seven 9-inch RMLs, and these were changed again to four 12-pounder QF guns in 1902. A small number of men manned the fort during World War I and by this time, only two 12-pounder QF guns remained.
The Explore
This was such a fun trip! @SpiderMonkey and I had made our way down to South Wales the night before and stayed overnight in my van nearby, to be greeted the next morning by our good friend Bob from Exploring The Unbeaten Path and Semples Frederick who had both travelled overnight from The Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Parking up on the beach (literally on the beach!), we soon cracked open a few tins and set about inflating the boat ready to sail towards the distant fort, almost 2 miles away. Launch sites are quite limited around the area owing to the high cliffs along much of the coastline, and the LNG terminal spanning a fair bit of the coast nearest to the fort, but the one we picked was fantastic!
Making our way out to sea, the weather was absolutely beautiful - perfectly clear skies, the sun shining, the bright blue sea sparkling and clear, and the surroundings were stunning. If you ever get a chance, I would highly recommend visiting Pembrokeshire, even if not visiting the fort, just to see the landscapes. Anyway, it took a couple of trips to get all four of us to the island, along with all our camera gear, camping stuff and enough supplies to last the next 24 hours. Upon arrival we were very relieved to find the door into the fort was open. If it were not for that we would have had quite a mission getting in, what with it being a fort and all.
We spent the rest of the day just chilling on the fort, BBQ'd some food, had a look around and watched the boats go by, all while drinking plenty of ciders and wodka (Belgian Aldi's own brand vodka!), culminating in the maddest four-man rave around a campfire Wales has ever witnessed. Those Europeans.... they crazy! Eventually we settled down for the night to be awoken very early by the seagulls. Those bloody seagulls!!
This was by far my favourite camping explore to date. Bob put together a fantastic video documenting not only the fort, but also our whole adventure. It's worth a watch...
History
A fortification at Stack Rock was first proposed by Thomas Cromwell in 1539 to protect the waterway, although this would not actually come to fruition at the time. Similar proposals were made in 1748 when Lewis Morris carried out a survey of Milford Haven, reporting on shipwrecks and navigation and recommending that a small fort be built here. Another survey followed in 1817. The Royal Dockyard at Pembroke Dock was felt to be in need of defence from the sea, and in 1850 construction commenced, being completed in 1852.
The fort was originally designed for two decks of artillery casemates, but only the first floor was completed and used as a gun deck. The first floor accommodated a garrison of one officer and thirty men. Disarmed in 1929, it was first placed on the market in 1932 and sold for £160. In 2005 it was sold once more for £150,000. Concerns over the security of a nearby LNG jetty were raised in 2013, following the discovery of potential trespasser activity. The fort was sold in 2020, and again in January 2021 for £191,000 to a community interest company.
The fort housed three 32-pounder guns, as well as a single 12-pounder for protection of the walls of the dock. From 1859 to 1871, the armaments were changed to sixteen 10-inch and seven 9-inch RMLs, and these were changed again to four 12-pounder QF guns in 1902. A small number of men manned the fort during World War I and by this time, only two 12-pounder QF guns remained.
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