page_title: New Tavern Fort
section_title: Construction and early years
hierarchical_section_title: New Tavern Fort / History / Construction and early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Milton Chantry, New Tavern Fort
context_page_description: New Tavern Fort is an historic artillery fort in Gravesend, Kent. Dating mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, it is an unusually well-preserved example of an 18th-century fortification and remained in use for defensive purposes until the Second World War. It was built during the American War of Independence to guard the Thames against French and Spanish raiders operating in support of the newly formed United States of America. It was redesigned and rebuilt in the mid-19th century to defend against a new generation of iron-clad French warships.
  By the start of the 20th century, the Thames defences had been moved further downriver to the estuary and the fort was disarmed. Its grounds were opened to the public as pleasure gardens, but the fort was taken back into military use temporarily during the Second World War. Today the fort and its magazines and other underground structures have been restored and are open to the public. It is unique in the UK for its display of guns and emplacements ranging from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
context_section_description: The fort was constructed between 1780-83 on a site originally occupied by the New Tavern Inn, from which it took its name. As the land was private property occupied by a Mr. Houghton, an Vesting Act (20 Geo. III c.28) was passed to purchase it. It was originally an irregularly shaped unrevetted earthwork consisting of two batteries linked by a rampart. The first battery had two faces forming an angle towards the river, while the second smaller battery had a straight front. It was protected on the riverside by a flat-bottomed ditch within which was a pallisade made of timber standing about 3 metres (9.8 ft) high. The two batteries were armed with fifteen heavy guns (24 and 32 pdrs.) which fired through embrasures.
  Milton Chantry was incorporated into the fort's perimeter and was converted into an artillery barracks. By the 1790s, additional buildings had been constructed, including quarters for the commanding officer, stables and magazines. The rear of the fort was originally open, but by the end of the 18th century a defence wall and caponier with loopholes for muskets had been built to close it off. A kiln was also built to heat shot to a red heat for setting ships on fire.
caption: Milton Chantry's chapel, the last surviving part of a medieval hospital that was incorporated into the fort and used as barracks
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