The site was acquired by the War Office in about 1860 to form part of a ring of forts protecting the Royal Dockyard at Chatham.
It was envisaged that the line would stretch from the River Medway to the Thames but a shortage of money meant only five of the original large works plus two small experimental earthen redoubts were built.
Because of budget restraints and changing fashions in fortifications, no fixed armament was mounted; instead earthen ramps were built to enable field artillery to fire from the fort’s parapet.
Building materials were brought by barge up the River Medway to a quay at Borstal, then hauled up the steep scarp slope of the North Downs to the fort via a branch of the EDR.
In the early years of the 20th century the Royal Engineers deliberately mined and blew up one corner of the fort during a field exercise.