Slough Fort
| Slough Fort | |
|---|---|
| Allhallows-on-Sea, Kent, England | |
Main entrance to Slough Fort | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Fortification |
| Owner | Private owners |
| Condition | Mostly intact |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°28′33″N 0°38′41″E / 51.475737°N 0.644842°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1867 |
| Built by | United Kingdom |
| In use | 1867–1929 |
| Materials | Concrete, granite, brick, Kentish ragstone |
Slough Fort is a small artillery fort that was built at Allhallows-on-Sea in the north of the Hoo Peninsula in Kent. Constructed in 1867, the D-shaped fort was intended to guard a vulnerable stretch of the River Thames against possible enemy landings during a period of tension with France. Its seven casemates initially accommodated rifled breech loading guns, which were replaced by the turn of the century by more powerful breech-loaders on disappearing carriages, mounted in concrete wing batteries on either side of the fort. It was likely one of the smallest of the forts constructed as a result of the 1860s invasion scare.
All of the guns were removed by 1912, though the fort continued in use during the First World War as a command post. It was decommissioned in 1920 and sold off in 1929. Since the 1960s, it has been used as a stables adjoining a holiday camp. The camp's owners funded a partial restoration in 2012–13 that uncovered previously buried features of the fort.