Tilbury Fort, Wind Against Tide (close up of fort) by Clarkson Stanfield 1846
Tilbury Fort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames in England. The earliest version of the fort, comprising a small blockhouse with artillery covering the river, was constructed by King Henry VIII to protect London against attack from France as part of his Device programme. It was reinforced during the 1588 Spanish Armada invasion scare, after which it was reinforced with earthwork bastion, and Parliamentary forces used it to help secure the capital during the English Civil War of the 1640s. Following naval raids during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the fort was enlarged by Sir Bernard de Gomme from 1670 onwards to form a star-shaped defensive work, with angular bastions, water-filled moats and two lines of guns facing onto the river.
In addition to protecting the Thames, in the 18th century Tilbury also began to be used a transit depot and for storing gunpowder. It continued to be essential for the defence of the capital and a new artillery battery was added in the south-east corner during the Napoleonic Wars. The fort became decreasingly significant as a defensive structure as military technology developed in the 19th century. It was redeveloped to hold heavy artillery after 1868, providing a second line of defence along the river, but further changes in technology meant that it had become obsolete by the end of the century. Instead Tilbury became a strategic depot, forming a logistical hub for storing and moving troops and materiel throughout the First World War. The fort had only a limited role in the Second World War and was demobilised in 1950.
Tilbury Fort is now operated by the charity English Heritage Trust as a tourist attraction, receiving 16,154 visitors in 2014.[1] Many of the more modern military features were demolished during the 1950s, with further restoration work taking place during the 1970s ahead of the site opening to the public in 1983. The 17th-century defences are considered by the historian Paul Pattison to be the "best surviving example of their kind in Britain", and the fort includes the only surviving early 18th century gunpowder magazines in Britain.[2]
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TilburyFort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames...
part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry. Tilbury is part of the Port of London with a major deep-water...
discharged. On the day of the speech, the Queen left her bodyguard before TilburyFort and went among her subjects with an escort of six men. Lord Ormonde walked...
Belhus discovered by geophys; Tudor and Jacobean (see also Tilbury Docks and TilburyFort) Medieval mound (1913) A Roman oven containing three complete...
bank at Tilbury and East Tilbury and three on the south bank at Gravesend, Milton (near the present New Tavern Fort) and Higham. The East Tilbury Blockhouse...
fortification (TilburyFort) and Coalhouse Fort was built further down river, close to the second blockhouse. The importance of the forts in defending the...
20th centuries. The fort is situated on the south bank of the River Thames and was intended to support the much older TilburyFort on the north bank. The...
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928839-7. Moore, Peter (1990). TilburyFort: A Post-Medieval Fort and its Inhabitants. London, UK: Newham Museum Service. Morley...
Thames. Part of the modern town of Tilbury (including part of TilburyFort) is within the traditional parish of West Tilbury. In 1931 the parish had a population...
The Governor of Gravesend and TilburyFort (or West Tilbury) was the military officer responsible for paired fortifications and blockhouses protecting...
October 1685. Water Gate, TilburyFort Ravelin, TilburyFort The Moat, TilburyFort Interior, TilburyFort River Battery, TilburyFort Main gate, The Royal...
trial for high treason. Many were held on hulks on the Thames or in TilburyFort, and executions took place in Carlisle, York and Kennington Common. In...
a galley, medical, and officers' quarters. The fort was towed from the degaussing station at Tilbury docks by four tugs—"Dapper", "Crested Cock", "King...
Berwick-upon-Tweed Hilsea Lines, Fort Monckton, Gosport Pendennis Castle, Falmouth Royal Citadel, Plymouth Star Castle, Isles of Scilly TilburyFort The outlines of some...
Major William Green at Gibraltar. The ravelin outside the Land Gate at TilburyFort Ravelin Peter (1708) and access bridge, Petersberg Citadel, Erfurt, Germany...
East Tilbury is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England, and one of the traditional Church of England...
he provided barrack blocks for such locations as Plymouth Citadel and TilburyFort, each with rows of square rooms arranged in pairs on two stories, accommodating...
Palmerston Forts along the north bank of the Thames River and East Anglia include: Beacon Hill Battery, Harwich Coalhouse Fort, East Tilbury East Tilbury Battery...
Thurrock. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2022. "Speak out on plans for Tilburyfort". Essex County Standard. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 10 May 2022. "Albert...
lxxiii). The tunnel was started some 800 yards (730 m) east of TilburyFort, to join Tilbury to Gravesend in 1798. Much difficulty was experienced with flooding...
bastion fort by 1669 to a design by Bernard de Gomme, who also designed TilburyFort further upriver. Two additional fortifications, the Half Moon Battery...
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