Discovering Trinity Bastion ( No. 1 Battery ) Gosport

Discovering Trinity Bastion ( No. 1 Battery ) Gosport

I have walked around this corner many time in the past from the car park to the Ferry Terminal at Gosport in Hampshire but have never been curious enough to wonder what was behind that long wall. 

Yesterday for the first time i decided to take advantage of a 2 hour free parking limit and park in the road itself as I travelled across the harbour to Portsmouth to collect my son from the station there.

Being obviously more curious than me, on the return my son, having asked what was behind the wall, decided to take a peek through the large gate opening.

 Ever the cautious one, I stopped to read the notice on the gate lest we stray into someone's garden.

Imagine my surprise with what we found.

We were actually inside one of the ring of many fortifications built around Portsmouth and its Harbour for its defence during the Napoleonic Wars. Commonly known locally as 'The Palmerstone Follies' which, unlike the French 'Maginot Line', were never tested in their day.

 . This corner bastion (Called Trinity Bastion or No.1 Bastion) had once contained 14 guns of various sizes mounted in brick-lined emplacements which could be fired over the parapet.

The small chambers, or Expense Magazines, were built into the base of these steps, and spaced at regular intervals around the bastion must have been used to store the munitions.

My son was already at the top of the steps exploring the ramparts above which clearly show each gun emplacement 

In each placement the Pivoting Pillar used to swivel the guns are still in place suggesting that these may have been WW2 relics? 

The line of emplacements follows the half hexagon shape of the bastion. 

This emplacement seems to have carried a larger gun needing more room to swing.

Here the Large and Small emplacements are visible side by side.

Unfortunately I blurred this view across the moat to the Marina opposite.

Rounding the next part of the curve the rest of the emplacement come into view.

The Ramparts seem to end near to the modern footbridge with this Blockhouse building with its Slit Windows designed to protect the soldiers with their rifles. It now contains a row of modern apartments.

The Gun Slit Windows are clear to see from the footbridge.

This old map indicated that once there was a line of Fortifications between the two creeks surrounding Gosport Town Centre. 

This map better shows the design of the bastion defence ramparts and emplacements

The view of the ramparts when driving in from The Haslar Road Bridge

The Arial view kind thanks to Google Maps

This stunning view is also available from the same Google maps location

Across Haslar Creek, The Submarine Museum is located with its major exhibit HMS Alliance just visible through the forest of masts.

I hope that you enjoyed this visit to a piece of local history, discovered thanks to my son Robin.

Frank