C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 35 S listed Grade I in 1971. By that time Fort Nelson was overgrown, burnt out and ruinous. The rescue of the fort began in 1979 when it was acquired by Hampshire County Council. A steady programme of repair began in association with the Palmerston Forts Society, using labour from theYouth Opportunities Programme. Meanwhile-uses included the council’s architectural salvage depot in the old ammunition store. In 1995 Fort Nelson was leased to the Royal Armouries and began its present life as a museum for large armaments. Royal Armouries has received substantial Heritage Lottery Fund aid to develop its presence at Fort Nelson. What do visitors see? First, the fort itself is an extraordinary piece of military architecture, based – ironically – on French precedents. Fort Nelson was planned as a highly efficient killing machine. The defending soldiers would have rushed to the caponiers housing the artillery from their barracks through an underground tunnel, passing the powder and ammunition stores on the way.The three forts on Portsdown Hill were designed not only to spread fire over the approaches on the land to the north but also to repel soldiers in their immediate vicinity with gunfire along the ditches at the base of the walls. Second, visitors see the collection of artillery. The first world war poem ‘Voice of the Guns’ reminds us of the terrifying destructive power of these extraordinary machines. An invitation in the Royal Armouries What’s On guide to ‘see Santa arrive in our giant second world war self-propelled gun’ perhaps plays more to their boys’-toys aspect. The fort is also of considerable ecological significance, with a collection of downland plants on its ramparts resplendent on a rare sunny day. Philip McGath and delegates in a bunker at Fort Nelson A light touch of classical ornamentation adorns the entrance to Fort Nelson, but the true beauty of the fort lies in its spectacular engineering.
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