Fort Albert, Cliff End, Freshwater, Isle of Wight
Fort Albert was built on an artificial island to defend the western approach to Portsmouth in 1854. It was an outpost of Golden Hill Fort. It was intended to house 29 guns. It was one of the last gun towers built in England. It was soon useless because of advances in gunnery. In 1886 it was chosen as one of the UK locations for the Brennan wire guided torpedo. This too became useless and was dismantled in 1906. Thereafter small guns only were mounted on the fort. The fort is architecturally important as a late example of its type. It is historically important for having housed the former Brennan installation. It was altered during WW2, when it was used as an anti-shipping observation tower, and closed to military use in 1957. During the 1970s and 80s it was converted to luxury flats.
