Fort Luton

The 1869 'Report on the Construction Condition and Costs of Fortification'[2] criticised the lack of landward protection for Chatham, yet it was not until 1872 that the Treasury relented and the land was purchased.

In 1877 work on the building started, using convict labour and an 18 in (457 mm) gauge light railway to bring up the materials from Borstal Creek jetty.

[4] The method adopted was to build all structures directly on to the land surface, and no form of preparation tunnelling was attempted.

This meant the loss of the Main Magazine (which was to have been in the western corner) and one quarter of this structure survived, much modified to become the above ground water tank.

The well was also removed from the plan so the 4 inches (100 mm) water main had to be laid from Fort Horsted and the proposed under-bridge caponier was never even started.

From 1886 to 1892, when the fort was finally completed, the ditch was dug and the spoil was used to cover the exposed buildings, some of which had been standing for over ten years, and to form the ramparts, the six very basic gun emplacements, two to each flank and a pair overlooking Luton Valley.

Even so, no armament is on record as ever having been issued to Fort Luton other than that brought in by units participating in the Annual Militia and Volunteer camps.

The Fort consists of a D-shaped rampart with prepared earthen gun positions for movable armament, two to each flank.

Near the RSJ which spans the moat are seen five massive cracks and more repair work, again from the siege trials of 1907, but this time, the hole in the base of the ditch was not dug by the defenders but was the result of a failed "camoflet" or "petard".

Accounts vary as to the title of the device used, but it was a type of tunnel driven from the attacker's side along the length of the moat to here and exploded.

After the sale of Fort Luton to Kent County Council the ditch fell into rapid disuse and became an illegal dump for all manner of refuse.

In 1990 it was bought by a private individual who ran the site as a model museum and visitor attraction with tea shop.