AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTING FORTS SCREENS. AND OTHER LIKE DEFENCES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Lancaster, of New Bond Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Gun Maker, James Brown, of Newport, in
the County of Monmouth, Iron Master, and John Hughes, also of
Newport aforesaid, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
CONSTRUCTING FORTS SCREENS. AND OTHER LIKE DEFENCES."
Sealed the 16th July 1861, and dated the 19th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Lan-
caster, James Brown, and John Hughes at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th January 1861.
We, CHARLES. WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Gun Maker, JAMES BROWN, of Newport, in the County of Mon-
mouth, Iron Master, and JOHN HUGHES, also of Newport aforesaid, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
CONSTRUCTING FORTS, SCREENS, AND OTHER LIKE DEFENCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in constructing forts, screens, and other like defences.
of layers or bars of wrought iron, steel, or other suitable metal or compound
of metals, rolled or otherwise formed with tongues-and grooves.or projections
and recesses, in such manner that the bars on being placed together shall
dovetail into one another, and form a close or good joint, and so formed in
other respects that the bars may be built up to constitute a wall, which when

page_text: sufficiently thick will resist projectiles discharged from cannon at no great
distance therefrom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles William Lancaster, James Brown, and John Hughes
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHABLES
WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gun Maker, JAMES BROWN, of Newport, in the County of Monmouth, Iron
Master, and JOHN HUGHES, also of Newport aforesaid, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles William Lancaster, James Brown, and John Hughes, Her
special licence that we, the said Charles William Lancaster, James Brown,
and John Hughes, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Charles William Lancaster, James Brown, and John Hughes,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTING
FORTS, SCREENS, AND OTHER LIKE DEFENCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Charles William Lancaster, James Brown, and
John Hughes, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles William Lancaster, James
Brown, and John Hughes, do bereby declare the nature of our said Invention'
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be part cularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists in constructing forts, screens, and other like defences
of layers or bars of wrought-iron, steel, or other suitable metal or compound
of metals, rolled or otherwise formed with tongues and grooves or projections
and recesses in such manner that the bars on being placed together shall
dovetail into one another, and form a close or good joint, and so formed in
other respects that the bars may be built up to constitute a wall, which when
sufficiently thick will resist projectiles discharged from cannon at no great
distance therefrom.
Portable as well as stationary forts, screens, and defences for troops may be
readily constructed with bars such as above described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings shows in horizontal, and Figure 2
in vertical section, a portion of a fort, being a wrought-iron embrasure for a
casemated battery, in which the bars of metal forming the embrasure are
made with tongues and grooves and otherwise according to our Invention.
Figure 2 shows front and back views respectively of the same. A, A, are the
metal bars laid in a horizontal direction, and supported by stonework masonry
or woodwork at each end. The bars or plates fit into one onother, and are
grooved and recessed at back, as shown in Figure 2, to enter similar grooves
and recesses in supporting plates B, B; C, C, are bolts by preference conical
headed, the heads of which lie in recesses formed in the supporting plates
B, B. The bolts pass through these plates and secure the embrasure to the
stonework masonry or wood of which the rest of the fort is composed; D, D,
are metal plates, between which some elastic material is placed to break the
effect of the blow upon the fort when the embrasure is struck.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of a fort made of wrought-iron, in which stone-
work is dispensed with in all the parts except the foundations. A, A, are the
plates or bars; in this case they are placed vertically, having the tongues and
grooves at the sides and at back, as before described. Figure 5 is a longi-
tudinal section of the same fort, showing the back part thereof. B, B, are
the armour plates or bars joined to one another, and at back to supporting
plates; C, C, are braces or ties in the foundation, and D, D, are the girders
supporting the roof of the fort.
Figure 6 is a horizontal section of part of a fort composed of bars of iron
formed with tongues and grooves as before, laid together vertically and
attached to supporting plates.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section of part of a fort constructed in a similar
manner to that last referred to, having the roof and flooring removed, and

page_text: showing the girders and the method of fastening wrought-iron braces or ties.
A, A, are the girders for carrying the roof, made by preference of wrought
iron; B, B, are the braces or ties for supporting the bed or foundation plate
C, C, and D, D, are vertical uprights for supporting the tongued and grooved
plates and roof.
Figure 8 is a transverse section of the fort, showing the wrought-iron
girders, the vertical bars or armour plates at the front and back of the fort, as
well as a ceiling composed of corrugated metal, and teak or other wood for
supporting the roof. A, A, are the tongued and grooved plates placed
vertically at the front of the fort; B, B, are the tongued and grooved plates
or bars at the back laid horizontally; C, C, are the bed or foundation plates;
D is a tie or brace; E is a space formned between the ceiling and the roof,
which we recommend should be filled with concrete composed of Trinidad
bitumen or other like suitable material, chalk, or gravel; F is a wrought-iron
girder placed below the roof and between it and the ceiling G, which latter is
composed of corrugated iron; H is an internal dovetailed ring keyed to the
vertical bars or armour plates; I, I, is the teak flooring formed with wrought-
iron tongues to carry the roof K, which we make bomb-proof.
Figure 9 is a section on a larger scale of part of the bed or foundation plate,
showing the uprights which form a mitre joint to receive the back plates as
well as the ties or braces.
Figure 10 is a section of three of the plates at the back of the fort, as well
as a section of the bed plate in which the lower plate is fitted.
Figure 11 is a section of the plates, with an internal ring keyed to them,
showing the method of fastening the girder by means of bolts.
same.
Figure 12 shows one end of the main girder supporting the roof, together
with the method we adopt of fastening the tongued and grooved plates to the
Part of the corrugated ceiling and bomb-proof roof is also shown.
Figure 18 is an end view of the girder showing stringers, which form a
mitre joint receiving the bomb-proof roof. This Figure also shows the
method we adopt for supporting the teak and stiffening the girders.
Figure 14 is a view of the other end of the girder to that shown at
Figure 12, showing the method we adopt for securing it to the back of the
fort; also the corrugated ceiling rivetted to the angle iron on the girder.
Figure 15 is a plan of the girder, showing the fastening to the uprights
which support the back of the fort.
Figure 16 is a front elevation of one-half of a circular fort down to the
water line, and Figure 17 is a horizontal section of the same.
Figure 18 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale, through the line x, y,

page_text: of Figure 17, of one-half of the fort. The external portion of the fort is com-
posed of bars or plates of iron, with tongues and recesses, as before described.
These are shown clearly at A in the horizontal section.
Figure 19 is a side elevation partly in section of a screen defence or fort
composed of tongued and grooved plates or bars A, A, let into and held at
back by tongued and grooved supporting plates B, B, which supporting plates
are held up by struts C, C, formed of wood or metal, or partly of metal and
partly of wood, which have their bearing upon foundation plates D, D.
Figure 20 shews in section a different form of tongue and groove in the
tops and bottoms and of the armour plates.
In some cases we make the attachment of the back of the plates to the
supporting plates more secure by forming the tongue on the back of the
tongued and grooved plate smaller than the groove in the supporting plate,
and by driving in a wedge of steel or iron, as shewn at a, a, Figure 11.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is, the
construction of forts, screens, and other like defences of layers or bars of
metal, or compound of metals, formed with tongues and grooves or projections
and recesses united and connected substantially in manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hughes, for myself and on behalf
of the said Charles William Lancaster and James Brown, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.