34 C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 S railway might have been hampered in its development. During the introductory talk, Michael White told us that ‘a reversal of thinking regarding significance and original location is required here, as without a railway these structures have no real meaning’. This goes to prove that decisions should indeed be made on the merits of the case when it comes to conservation matters. Elizabeth Mayle Fort Nelson study tour High on Portsdown Hill, Fort Nelson commands a sweeping view of Portsmouth Harbour, Spithead and the Isle of Wight. Philip Mcgath, the curator, explained that it was a key part of Lord Palmerston’s defensive system, designed to protect Britain in the face of growing French naval power. At first sight it seems strange that the fort was designed to resist an attack from the north. But, with the two other forts on Portsdown Hill, Fort Nelson was designed to repel a landward attack on the fortress of Portsmouth Harbour by an invading French army. The fort was built between 1861 and 1870. By the time it was finished, defeat in the Franco-Prussian war had neutralised the French as a military force. Fort Nelson, like the rest of Palmerston’s defensive system, was never needed for its intended purpose. The fort was used in the first world war as a transit station for troops and in the second world war as a store for ammunition. A scheduled ancient monument, it was The station at Arlesford (All photos: Fiona Newton)
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