I got this information from the official Fort Amherst website - http://www.fortamherst.com
- In 1667 the Dutch raided the River Medway and attacked Chatham’s Royal Dockyard, which triggered the idea for some sort of defense system.
- In 1708 plans were beginning to be drawn up to construct a fortification to protect the Royal Dockyard from a land based attack.
- In 1714 land was bought for the construction of the fortifications but work did not start until 1755.
- Part of the site chosen included a chalk pit with a number of caves. These caves were extended between 1776 and 1805 to provide an underground labyrinth of tunnels, protected underground gun positions and protection in the event of a siege.
- In 1820 the defences were declared obsolete due to better artillery equipment with a greater firing range.
- The whole of the fortifications were used as a training ground during the Victorian period and the practice sieges were so popular that thousands of people came to Chatham to watch them.
- During WWII the tunnels were utilised by the Anti-Invasion Planning Unit and Civil Defence, who used a section as their headquarters. This is where Civil Defence was co-ordinated for the North Kent area in the event of bombing as well as support and assistance to the general public after such an incident. A section of the tunnels has been reconstructed into the Civil Defence HQ as it was in 1939.
- In the late 1970’s a group of enthusiasts were given permission by the Ministry of Defence to start tidying up the site, with the intention of restoring Fort Amherst.
- Fort Amherst has been described Britain’s largest Napoleonic fortress.
Another fort in medway, Fort Clarence, was even used as a lunatic asylum for a period of time once it had served its purpose as a fort which I think makes our mental patients idea relevant and believable.
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