The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built at Hilsea to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island, an island off the southern coast of England which forms the majority of the city of Portsmouth and its key naval base. They are now used as a greenspace and leisure area, also known locally as Foxes Forest.
The island is separated from the mainland by a narrow stretch of water called Portsbridge Creek. The first means of crossing the creek was by stepping stones, followed by a single track bridge, built to allow the passage of pedestrians and horse-drawn carts to have access to Portsea Island.
Early defences were focused on the 'Portsbridge' that crossed the creek. [1] A fortification is thought to have been built at the mainland end of the bridge during the reign of King Henry VIII. [1] In 1642 the fort was captured by parliamentary forces as part of the English Civil War. It was rebuilt in 1688 and again in 1746. [1] During the Civil War further defences were constructed by the royalists consisting of a wooden barricade mounted on the bridge backed by a small fort equipped with 4 cannon. [2] The cannon were withdrawn on 10 August 1642 and with the barricade held by as few as eight men the parliamentarian forces were able to cross the creek two days later. [2] The Parliamentarians then constructed their own defences of at the site of the bridge consisting of two mounds on which a total of 6 cannon were mounted. [2] The Parliamentarians appear to have constructed further defences near the bridge in 1643. [3]
During 1756 and 1757 defensive lines were constructed on the Portsea Island side of the creek under the supervision of John Peter Desmaretz. [1] They consisted of a 15–20-foot-wide (4.6–6.1 m) and 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) ditch backed by a 7–8-foot (2.1–2.4 m) rampart. [4] Water could be allowed to flow into the ditch from sluices at either end. [4]
The current lines were constructed between 1858 and 1871. [5] They included special fortified bridges for road and rail access. A model of the Hilsea Lines featured in the 1862 International Exhibition. [6] Even before their completion the Hilsea Lines had been rendered obsolete by the 1859 Royal Commission and advances in artillery technology; as such they were the last full bastioned trace constructed in the United Kingdom. [7] The development of rifled artillery meant that it was now possible for an enemy to occupy the high ridge of Portsdown Hill north of Portsmouth and shell the naval base from several miles away without having to attack the Hilsea Lines. To counter the new threat a series of "Palmerston Forts" were constructed on Portsdown Hill and the Hilsea Lines were scaled back. In particular a pair of forts that it had been planned to place behind the lines were not constructed. [8]
As completed, the lines are largely built from clay and chalk and were 30 feet (9.1 m) high when completed. [9] Traffic on the London Road passed through the lines via a pair of 15-foot-wide (4.6 m), 18-foot-high (5.5 m) tunnels. [9] There was also an 8-foot-wide (2.4 m), 11-foot-high (3.4 m) tunnel for pedestrians. [9] The section containing the tunnels was demolished in 1919. [9]
Then a further tunnel through the lines was provided for the railway. [10] Finally, a 6-foot-wide (1.8 m) and 8-foot-high (2.4 m) tunnel was built through the West centre curtain to act as a sally port. [10]
It was originally planned to equip the lines with smoothbore guns; however, it appears the guns may never have been fitted. [11] In 1886 the lines were equipped with a mix of RML 7 inch guns and RBL 7 inch Armstrong guns on Moncrieff mountings fitted in newly constructed concrete emplacements. [11] Further RBL 7 inch Armstrong guns were fitted in the original casements. [11] The guns were removed in 1903. [11] A QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss was mounted on the lines during World War 1. [12] A small number of guns were mounted on the lines during World War II. [11]
When the lines were built large amounts of land was purchased by the crown to the rear of the lines. [13] Part of this land behind the west bastion was sold to the city of Portsmouth in 1926 which built a housing estate, a school and a recreation ground on it. [14] During 1929 and 1930 the city purchased the east bastion, the curtain wall and the land behind them. [14] This land was used as the site for a new road link to the mainland and Portsmouth Airport. [14] At the same time the city also purchased the West Bastion. [14] In 1932, the eastern lines were dynamited to make room for the airport. [15]
In the 1930s western end of the moat became known as the Hilsea lagoon [16] and in the mid-1930s work was done on the banks and it was turned into a boating lake. [17] [18] In the same period the land between the boating lake and the lines was converted into part of the Hilsea bastion gardens. [19] Most of the gardens were destroyed as the result of road widening in 1968–70. [20] In 1986 the city bought those parts of the lines that were not already under its control. [21] The terraces that formed part of the gardens were demolished in 2000. [19] In 1938 a bridge was built across the boating lake section of the moat. [22] It was demolished in 1999 [22] and later replaced by the current structure.
Today the lines are accessible for most of their length, but overgrown and derelict in places. [23] The moat is used for fishing. In May 2006 the moat experienced some flooding. [23] Most of the lines are designated as a scheduled ancient monument. [24] In 2010 the lines were given a Green Flag Award. [25]
There is a walk around the Hilsea Lines by the Mountbatten Centre to the A27 Roundabout and Reverse.
In January 2017 the casemates have various uses. Bastion 6 is currently undergoing works to become a Nationally Recognised World War One Centre of excellence headed up by Charles J Haskell and Benjamin Edward French, a relocation from the current World War One Remembrance Centre set up at Fort Widley, [26] Portsmouth. Bastion 5, which is owned by Portsmouth City Council, is currently in a derelict state, due to vandalism and destruction by local youths, it is listed on the Heritage At Risk Register maintained by Historic England. [27] Bastion 4 has a commercial use as Casemates Rehearsal Studios. Bastion 3 is used by Volunteer Groups and the Portsmouth City Council funded Hilsea Lines Ranger. Bastion 1 is owned and occupied by Portsmouth Grammar School and is used by their Physical Education Department.
The nature reserve at Hilsea Lines has in recent decades become locally known as Foxes Forest.
The fortifications of Portsmouth are extensive due to its strategic position on the English Channel and role as home to the Royal Navy. For this reason, Portsmouth was, by the 19th century, one of the most fortified cities in the world. The fortifications have evolved over the centuries in response to changes in tactics and technology and the area defended has increased. While the first defences focused on Portsmouth harbour, in step with the fortifications of Gosport, later defensive structures protected the whole of Portsea Island and an increasing distance inland. At the same time, the fortifications of Portsmouth and Gosport became part of the wider fortifications of the Solent. Old Portsmouth, on the southwest corner of Portsea Island, has been walled for much of its history.
Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island 24.5 square kilometres in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth.
Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131m above sea level. The ridge offers good views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the main part of the city of Portsmouth, one of the United Kingdom's main naval bases. To the north lies the Forest of Bere, with the South Downs visible in the distance. Butser Hill can be seen on a clear day. The hill is formed from an inlier of chalk which has been brought to the surface by an east–west upfold of the local strata known as the Portsdown Anticline.
Fort Cumberland is a pentagonal artillery fortification erected to guard the entrance to Langstone Harbour, east of the Dockyard of Portsmouth on the south coast of England. It was sited to protect the Royal Navy Dockyard, by preventing enemy forces from landing in Langstone Harbour and attacking from the landward side. Fort Cumberland is widely recognised as the finest example of a bastion trace fort in England. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building
Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Solent and the eastern approach to Portsmouth. The castle had a square central keep, two rectangular gun platforms to the east and west, and two angled bastions to the front and rear, and was an early English example of the trace italienne-style of fortification popular on the Continent. The Cowdray engraving of the Battle of the Solent in 1545 depicted Henry VIII visiting the castle. Despite several serious fires, it remained in service and saw brief action at the start of the English Civil War in 1642 when it was stormed by Parliamentary forces.
Fort Widley is one of the forts built on top of Portsdown Hill between 1860 and 1868 on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom. It was designed, along with the other Palmerston Forts atop Portsdown, to protect Portsmouth from attack from the rear.
Fort Fareham is one of the Palmerston Forts, in Fareham, England. After the Gosport Advanced Line of Fort Brockhurst, Fort Elson, Fort Rowner, Fort Grange and Fort Gomer had been approved by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom a decision was made to build an outer line of three more forts two miles in advance of the Gosport Advanced Line. Of these three projected forts only Fort Fareham was built due to the need to cut costs. It acted as a hinge between the forts on Portsdown Hill and those of the Gosport Advanced Line, filling the gap at Fareham. It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1976.
Fort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth. It is now part of the Royal Armouries, housing their collection of artillery, and a Grade I Listed Building.
North End is a district in the city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island in Hampshire. The area developed rapidly as a part of the city after a horse-drawn tram route was opened between Portsmouth and Cosham. The area is mainly residential, being composed of mainly late Victorian to early 20th-century buildings.
Hilsea is a district of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Hilsea is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities – the Mountbatten centre. Trafalgar School is also in Hilsea. It is also the home of Portsmouth rugby football club
Fort Gomer was one of the Palmerston Forts, in Gosport, England, the southernmost and first-built Polygonal fort in the defence line to the west of Gosport. It was located on land immediately to the west of the present Gomer Lane. Fort Gomer was the most southerly fort in the line of five which formed part of the ‘Sea Front and Spithead Defences’, Inner Line, Land Front, Left Flank. This line of forts was later known as the Gomer-Elson Line or 'Gosport Advanced Line' This consisted of, from south to north, Fort Gomer, Fort Grange, Fort Rowner, Fort Brockhurst and Fort Elson. An inscription above the main entrance through the barrack block read `Erected AD 1853’. The fort was almost complete before work began on Fort Elson in 1855. The estimated cost of Fort Gomer was £92,000 in 1869.
Portsbridge Creek, known officially as Portsea Creek, formerly as Portsea Lake and informally as Ports Creek, Port Creek, Portcreek and Canal Creek,, is a tidal waterway just off the southern coast of England that runs between Portsea Island and the mainland from Langstone Harbour to Tipner Lake.
Hilsea Lido is a freshwater lido at Hilsea, Portsmouth, England. The lido was closed for a number of years but reopened undergoing refurbishment under the control of Hilsea Lido Pool for the People.
Pewit Island is a small island located in the north western section of Portsmouth Harbour. Historically it appears to have been connected to the mainland via a manmade shingle causeway, parts of which still exist. The island has been colonised by oak and blackthorn scrub and is home to species including sea lavender and golden samphire plants. The island is currently a Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust nature reserve.
Alexandra Park, Portsmouth, was opened in 1907 and was a place of recreation for the people of Portsea Island. It provided lawns, flowers beds, paths and seats; it was an area to escape the toils of inner city life in the early twentieth century. The park was named after Queen Alexandra. At the time of the parks opening the site was already home to a bicycle track.
Camp Down is a location at Portsdown Hill, Hampshire, near Farlington, which was used as an Admiralty semaphore station and later as a redoubt on the line of Palmerston Forts, Portsmouth.
Lumps Fort is a disused fortification built on Portsea Island as part of the defences for the naval base at Portsmouth.
Hilsea Barracks was a military installation at Hilsea in Portsmouth.
