The Fortress Study Group is an international society concerned with the study of all aspects of military architecture and fortifications and their armaments, especially works constructed to mount and resist artillery.
The PFS Committee is pleased to announce that the 2022 Annual Outing to the Chatham forts Horsted and Luton that was cancelled due to the current Covid-19 situation, is now back on the calendar for 2022! Please see newsletter 165, Spring 2022, for detailsread more ...
The PFS will hold the 2022 AGM on Saturday 15th October at 14.00hrs. The meeting will take place at Fort Nelson, as has been the venue in the past, but will also be virtual by Zoom (as last year) to give members who are unable to attend the opportunity to do so. The meeting will be held with Royal Armouries' approval and in accordance with whatever safety requirements they determine. All PFS members are invited to attend.
The online auction on the Clive Emson site has just ended with Fort Gilkicker being sold for £1.386 million against a guide price of £1.5 million. There were four bidders willing to pay at least £1.35 million. We also have just had a recent report that intruders to the site – which is hardly secure – have done more permanent damage to the barracks block. We can only hope that the new owner – whatever their intentions – gets this site secure and safe very soon.
The PORTSMOUTH AND GOSPORT HISTORY WEEK, held during 1st to 7th August, includes a couple of talks that will be of interest to fortification enthusiasts.....read more ...
New fortifications events calendar available. This covers events at many Victorian Fortifications across the UK. Click on "Information" then "Fortifications Events".read more ...
The PFS Committee would like to take this festive time to wish the members of the Society a 'Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous 2022'.
The BBC website has just announced the following.... 'A derelict sea fort built to deter a French invasion in the 19th Century has been sold for £715,000.read more ...
The PFS has just launched a new publication - 'The Portsmouth Artillery Volunteers 1797-1908' .read more ...
EH have issued a statement on their web site concerning the collapse of part of the castle and the work currently being carried out.read more ...
At this morning's PFS Committee, the catastrophe that had struck the East Wing Battery of Hurst Castle was discussed. The committee felt it appropriate that an official public statement should be made.read more ...
Terrible news form Hurst Castle as the front seaward-facing wall collapses due to coastal erosion. A report from the BBC news website follows....read more ...
Earlier this week, a delegation from the Palmerston Forts Society met with the new owners of the site of the former Royal Marines Museum which includes the battery. The owners plan to develop the site into Portsmouth's first five star hotel. We were invited to discuss options for the future of the battery site.read more ...
The PFS have registered with Amazon Smile. If you use Amazon why not use Amazon Smile instead, there is no difference to you as the customer, but for every £1 you spend, those nice folk at Amazon will give the PFS a ha'penny!read more ...