Palmerston Forts Society and Portsdown Artillery Volunteers

23/08/2026

A Romantic Painting and a Concrete Pit

I always enjoy it when a visit to an unconnected museum throws up a fort connection. This week I visited Reading Museum. Reading is the home of the Huntley and Palmer biscuit company and the museum has a huge collection of biscuit tins. Lady Temple, who has a few tins herself, was in heaven. The collection included many military biscuit and military themed tins but also this eye catching tin from 1941 featuring the image of Mrs. Scott Moncrieff.

The painting reproduced on the tin is described as one of Scottish artist Sir Henry Raeburn's most famous and best-loved oil portraits. The original was painted in 1814 and is now housed in the National Galleries of Scotland. Mrs. Scott Moncrieff (1779–1824) died relatively young and it’s a rather sad story - but it got me wondering whether the lady was related to Sir Alexander Moncrieff, the inventor of the Moncrieff disappearing gun carriage.

It turns out that they were related, but only distantly. There are several different Moncrieff lineages from related but distinct branches of the wider Scott‑Moncrieff family. Mrs. Scott Moncrieff (in the painting) was the wife of Robert Scott Moncrieff (Edinburgh wine merchant, friend of Sir Walter Scott).

Sir Alexander Moncrieff (1820–1906), colonel and engineer was the inventor of the Moncrieff disappearing gun carriage. He was the eldest son of Captain Matthew Moncrieff, of the Madras army, also from Edinburgh but not directly related to the Scott Moncrieffs of the same city.

Interestingly, the initial AI search threw up a clear statement that the carriage inventor was the son of Mrs. Scott Moncrieff. A more detailed search then attributed the disappearing carriage to another Colonel Moncrieff who was around at the same time. I then found a 236 page book on the genealogy of the House of Moncrieff and decided to give up and just enjoy the painting

22/08/2026

Gosport Heritage Open Days booking opens today 09:30

This includes visits to FORT ROWNER which usually sell out fast.

Booking for some events in DOVER opens on Monday.

Gosport Heritage Open Days is a family festival celebrating local history and giving free access to historical landmarks with tours, events and activities.

21/08/2026

PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER FORT

This photo turned up on the Cyberheritage page very recently. It is new to us and it is rather special. The photo certainly shows well the “chequer-board” camouflage that was applied to disguise the location of the gun ports. This comes from a time when there was a concern that more precise gunfire could aim at particular gunport rather than just at the fort. The original post raised the question of what the three structures were on the roof. PFS member Nat Chuff has had a good look at the two images and suggests the following:

1) The structure on the right on top of four legs and reached by ladder, appears to be a position finding cell for a Watkin Mark 1 Type D Depression Range Finding instrument.

2) The polygonal building in the middle appears to be an Admiralty signal station, complete with a large flag staff and also a semaphore signal mast above the centre of the building

3) What appears to be a six-sided building on the left is most likely a Defence Electric Light installation.

4) If you look carefully at the chequer pattern it is possible to make out three partially open gun ports.

5) From these observations the estimated date of the photo is early 1890s.

A more detailed analysis of this photo and those three installations will be in the next Newsletter which Palmerston Forts Society members will receive in early October.

Many thanks to Cyberheritage for revealing this one – keep up the good work.

20/08/2026

Coastal Batteries & Forts of MALTA

The MALTAROUTE website has a very extensive section on the fortifications of the islands. It provides an illustrated overview of the island’s coastal batteries and forts, including many substantial Victorian works built during the 19th century. It highlights their locations, history and surviving features.

It is very comprehensive with summary descriptions of fortifications divided into the two most important eras, those of The Knights of St John (- 1710s) and the British Empire (1870s–1910s).
It seems to have been largely sourced from Wikipedia and there is a page including Wikipedia links for many individual forts. There is also a section on the coastal watchtowers of the St John era divided into three historical periods.

Perhaps AI was involved in its construction but the MALTAROUTE website describes itself as “An independent travel guide to Malta, Gozo and Comino……written, maintained and fact-checked by its editor, Ruben Koster”. The site is available in English and Dutch and has a search function - which was very good when I used it.

I cant vouch for the historical and technical accuracy, but it seems to be a useful resource.

https://www.maltaroute.com/things-to-do/history-culture/coastal-batteries-forts-malta/

A guide to Malta's lesser-known coastal batteries and land forts — from the Order of St John's 1710s Vendôme-funded batteries to the British Victoria Lines forts — most not individually visitable…

19/08/2026

19/08/2026

Amanda Martin MP joins the PFS work party at THE HILSEA LINES

Our PFS work party was delighted to welcome Portsmouth North Member of Parliament Amanda Martin at one of their recent sessions on the western section of the Hilsea Lines. Ms. Martin had commented on one of our previous social media posts about the work parties and had asked to join us. Over a couple of days, volunteers Geoffrey, Ian, Van, Steve and Simon were working on clearing brambles from the side and top of the Moncrieff pit and then cutting along the terreplein which they don't think has been revealed for 70 years or more. The party found another traverse and partially cleared it and cleared a totally overgrown expense magazine which had only been partially revealed in 1999.'

Ms. Martin joined the work party on the second day and was not just a spectator. She leant a hand during her stay, felling a dying sapling on the terreplein. It was a good opportunity to brief Ms. Martin on the challenges faced with preserving heritage sites like the Hilsea Lines, and she was very complimentary of the work being done by the team and receptive to the ideas discussed. We are optimistic about an ongoing discussion concerning the Hilsea Lines.

A native of Portsmouth and elected to Parliament in 2024, Ms. Martin is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar and is Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Education having previously served on the Education Select Committee.

17/08/2026

COALHOUSE FORT – Events and Memories

There is another guided walk coming up at Coalhouse Fort on the 19th August and there are a number of family focussed events in the Gatehouse and Parade during that week and the following weekend. Details are in our Victorian Forts Events Calendar (PFS website) or here:
https://www.startthurrock.org/whats-on/coming-to-coalhouse-fort-in-august/

The “Reanimating Coalhouse Fort” project are collecting personal memories of the fort.

They tell us: “We know the Coalhouse Fort is much loved by generations ….. Many of you have special memories of visits, and we really want to hear about them. Family outings… dog walks… taking friends to visit… childhood adventures. Tell us about your memories by sending us just a few words and, if possible, a picture.”

If you have memories to share, you are invited to email them directly to:
[email protected]

16/08/2026

WEBINAR REMINDER - "Fleming’s War "

The next webinar is at 20:00 (UK time), this Wednesday the 19th August and is titled "Fleming's War".
Dr Garrick Fincham will be telling us about the siege of Ostend, 1601-04. That siege was one of the longest and most brutal of the period. Phillipe Fleming was the Ostend Auditor and he kept a meticulous record.

The Fortress Study Group CIO , in cooperation with the Palmerston Forts Society, The Coast Defense Study Group and the Ordnance Society and, organises these webinars for their members. Palmerston Forts Society members receive login details via email, and recordings of selected past webinars are accessible in the members’ area of the PFS website.

If you join the PFS now you get 14 months membership for the price of 12 months.

Follow this link to find out how to join us for as little as £17 per year :
https://www.palmerstonfortssociety.org.uk/palmerston-forts-society-membership

15/08/2026

New Fort Logs – MILFORD HAVEN and PLYMOUTH

There are “Fort Log” data sheets for most of the Victorian fortifications of Great Britain. Most of them are formatted as two to six sided A4 documents so that they are easy to print out carry when in the field.
The Fort Logs have been produced over a number of years by various members of the society and there are now over 250 in total. We have just updated four of them for: Thorn Island, Dale Point Fort, Hubberstone Fort (all in Milford Haven) and Garden Battery in Plymouth Harbour.

They are all indexed in the members’ area of the PFS website. You can get access to all of the Fort Logs, Webinars, Members’ Events, Newsletters and the Redan Journal by joining the Palmerston Forts Society.

This is a really good time to join the Palmerston Forts Society. The membership year runs from 1st. October but if you join between now and then you get this part of the membership year free. That means 14 months for the price of 12. Annual membership is available for as little as £17 and you can find our more here: https://www.palmerstonfortssociety.org.uk/palmerston-forts-society-membership