Description

SU 60 NW SOUTHWICK AND WIDLEY PORTSDOWN HILL
13/12 Fort Southwick
I
One of a series of forts (Wallington (now demolished), Nelson, Southwick, Widley
and Purbrook) along the chalk ridge of Portsdown Hill, built for the defence of
Portsmouth against landward attack in the 1860s, and known as Palmerston's Folly.
Brick walls of English bond, the outer face of the defensive walls are of flint
with horizontal and vertical bands of brickwork and a blind arcade at the upper
level. The structure is partly within and above the natural ridge; a polygonal
plan with four vertical faces to the deep dry ditch, a fire step behind the
parapet, and two-storeyed caponiers at the three corners (to give raking fire
along the ditches). Within this outer framework is an embankment with open gun
emplacements at the top. Below the central parade ground there are brick-lined
passageways, ammunition stores, and staircases to the several points, and behind
the caponier positions sunken embrasures for mortars. The rear (south) of the
fort has a set of barracks, and the south face is a high brick wall, originally
protected by a continuous ditch; there are entrances at each side, once approached
by drawbridges, comprising bold 'Norman' doorways of stone, with recessed orders
of mouldings, above columns. The fort contains many interesting details of
fortification design. Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Note: the southern part of the fort lies within the City of Portsmouth.

Listing NGR: SU6463209041

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Fort Southwick at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5472070

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)