Eastbourne Redoubt

[poliphilo]

If Napoleon had ever landed an invasion force on the Pevensey Levels he'd have found himself being irritated by the guns and garrison of the Eastbourne Redoubt- a fortress built on the western flank of Pevensey Bay in 1805. The Redoubt is circular and partially buried- with its main rooms and parade ground below ground level and only its gun platform exposed. It remained in the hands of the military- and was put to various uses by them- until after the Second World War.









The building now houses a military museum- and entrance to the parade ground and gun platform is free. The original guns have long since been dispersed and scrapped and the ones that now fill the embrasures are a job lot- scrounged from various sources and most of them very much smaller.

Comments

[cmcmck]

It's similar in above ground structure to the massive Amherst Redoubt complex in Chatham the underground elements of which cover pretty much the entirety of the Medway Towns via multiple forts and bastions and a lot of which remain unexplored. In that case some of the really big guns are still in place.

Problem being that the little Corporal would simply have gone round and headed for London!

[poliphilo]

Apparently the only time it saw action was when a French man o' war sailed within range- and they fired a couple of rounds at it- and missed.

[oakmouse]

Thank you for the pictures --- this is fascinating! It reminds me of the coastal forts built in the Americna Pacific Northwest, in the 1870s-1890s. I'm not sure why, because the American forts were built mostly of earth bulwarks and reinforced concrete --- no buildable stone to be had out there --- but I suppose coastal defences are ever akin, even thousands of miles and most of a century apart.

[poliphilo]

Yes, I don't think warfare changed much in the course of the 19th century. The big "advances" came in the 20th.

[oakmouse]

*nods* Given that WWI was the last war that used cavalry, and WWII was the first war that used jet fighters, a lot changed very quickly in the 20th century.