| Lumps Fort | |
|---|---|
| Southsea, England | |
 Entrance to Lumps Fort | |
  Lumps Fort | |
| Type | Fort |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Portsmouth City Council |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Mostly complete |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1859–1861 |
| Materials | Brick, earth |
Lumps Fort is a disused fortification built on Portsea Island as part of the defences for the naval base at Portsmouth.
Lumps Fort dates from the 18th century. [1] The earliest reference is in the records of the Board of Ordnance in 1805 which mention "Lumps Fort-three 32-pounder guns". [2]
By 1822 the fort was the site of a semaphore station on the semaphore line from London to Portsmouth. It was constructed here to avoid the smog of the town of Portsmouth which would impede direct optical communications from Portsdown Hill. The fort was out of use as a defensive fort by the 1820s and in 1827 part of the fort fell into the sea. The semaphore station was closed in 1847 when the electrical telegraph took over.
The fort was reconstructed between 1859 and 1869 as one of the Palmerston forts in the line of Portsmouth Harbour defences. It was designed to be fitted with 17 guns and had a barrack block at the rear to accommodate 100 men. It was not normally manned, with only a Master Gunner normally in residence at the Fort - in 1885 the Master Gunner was H Orchard. [3] It was also used by units of the Volunteer Artillery - the City of London Artillery Volunteers undertook gun practice from there in 1889. [4]
It was re-armed in the 1890s with three 6-inch rifled breech-loader Mk. IV guns on hydropneumatic carriages. These guns were taken away in 1906, but the fort was rearmed in 1914. It was then a beach defence battery and was armed with a 6-pounder Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun. At the end of the World War I, it was demolished, leaving only an outline. [2]
The fort was bought by Portsmouth City Council in 1932. [5] World War II interrupted plans to develop the site. In 1942, the Combined Operations Development Centre's Experimental Party, and soon after, the Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment, a specialist unit which also developed and trained in Sleeping Beauties and Boom Patrol Boats, began operations from the fort [latterly moving to Teignmouth, S.Devon]. The detachment was based in two Nissen huts outside the fort adjacent to the car park as well as within the fort itself, and initially trained in the Solent making almost daily canoe boom patrol paddles to the Isle of Wight. It went on to conduct Operation Frankton, on axis shipping at Bordeaux harbour. [6]
After the war, it was planted as a rose garden, [5] with the western part of the site becoming the Southsea Model Village [7]
Adjacent to the site is the Canoe Lake, constructed from a large area of marshland, which was opened on 17 June 1886 and used as a boating lake. [8] During World War II, the lake was used for experiments into countermeasures against magnetic mines [9]
Portsmouth is a port city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent. This means Portsmouth is the only English city not located primarily on the mainland. Located 74 miles (119 km) south-west of London, 50 miles (80 km) west of Brighton and Hove, and 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Southampton; Portsmouth is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. It is the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom, with a population last recorded at 208,100.
Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's settlements were incorporated into the boundaries of Portsmouth in 1904.
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.
Spitbank Fort or Spitsand Fort or Spit Sand Fort or simply Spit Fort is a sea fort built as a result of the 1859 Royal Commission. The fort is one of four built as part of the Palmerston Forts constructions. Located in the Solent, near Portsmouth, England, and is now a luxury hotel.
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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.
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The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom was a committee formed in 1859 to enquire into the ability of the United Kingdom to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power, and to advise the British Government on the remedial action required. The appointment of the Commission had been prompted by public concern about the growing military and naval power of the French Empire and was instigated by the Prime Minister, Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, who came to be closely associated with the project. In the following year, the Commission's report recommended a huge programme of fortification to defend the country's arsenals and naval bases. Many of the recommendations were acted upon; however, the great expense, the length of time taken to complete the various works and their perceived usefulness were all subjects of critical political, press and public debate.
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