Report on the Survey of the Guardhouse at Fort Cumberland
Author(s): Dave Fellows, Paddy O'Hara, J Pidgeon
Fort Cumberland is an 18th-century bastion-traced fort built on the shingle spit of Eastney Point on the south-eastern corner of Portsea Island. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (National Monument no. 26723) and is the home of English Heritage’s Centre for Archaeology. It has been described as ‘perhaps the most impressive piece of 18th-century defensive architecture in England’ (Pevsner and Lloyd, 1967). The Guardhouse is a Grade II listed building, with the ground beneath it scheduled as part of the Scheduled Ancient Monument Designation. It dates from the construction of the first fort on site, 1747, and was used as a Guardhouse and Gunners’ Barracks until the fort was remodelled between 1782 and 1812. It has subsequently been modified for use as offices, a rope store, and most recently as a lecture theatre and cinema. The following report details the results of the survey and the historical interpretation of the building, undertaken to create a primary fabric survey record and to help inform future planning decisions.
- Report Number:
- 43/2003
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 48
- Keywords:
- Post Medieval Standing Building Survey
