Slough Fort
By Victor Smith
With the participation of the community, the leisure giant Bourne Leisure has begun a project for the repair, restoration and public presentation of the historic Slough Fort at Allhallows.
With a possible war with France in mind, this anti-invasion fort originated in 1867 as a prominent gun-armed edifice of granite, positioned to oppose a landing of troops at Allhallows bent on an overland attack on Chatham Dockyard. By 1891 it had been embanked with earth and enlarged with wing batteries, both to make it less visible and more powerful, being armed with heavier guns that popped up to fire and then recoiled out of sight for reloading. It was further modernised in 1906, armed into the First World War and reactivated as an anti-invasion defence in the Second World War. Afterwards it was abandoned to become – starting before its ownership by Bourne Leisure – a caravan park. Over time, infilling of some structures took place, others were damaged and the military signature of the fort became degraded. The challenge is to retrieve the fort and make it a meaningful heritage experience for visitors.
So Phase 1 has begun to address this by clearing undergrowth and bushes to make the fort more visible, excavating some infilled structures and introducing viewing routes, to be followed by the placement of information panels containing interpretation drawings by the artist Chris Forsey.
It is hoped to run further community archaeology days later in 2013. If you are interested in taking part, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Keith Gulvin at keithgulvin@live.co.uk.
Meanwhile there is limited (first stage) free public access via the Allhallows Leisure Park, Saturdays and Sundays 10am-4pm and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am-2pm (all year round). Enquiries to the leisure park on 01634 270385 and 272929.