Fort Picklecombe stands on the extreme south eastern coast of Cornwall, a couple of miles west of the city of Plymouth.

Palmerston ordered a series of coastal forts and batteries to be built in this area to defend the large naval base at Devonport in Plymouth.

Constructed between 1864 and 1871, the fort was armed with forty two 9-inch and 10-inch muzzle loading guns, which were mounted in a semi-circular arc of two-storey casemates faced with granite blocks and iron shields.

Guns were removed from the fort in the 1920s but after the outbreak of the World War II it was reactivated and manned by the 566th Devon Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery.

It is said that in order to meet the demands of the then landowner, the Earl of Edgcumbe, the officers mess had to emulate Warwick Castle, complete with towers and castellations.