Fort Bridgewoods AAOR

From Subterranea Britannica

fort-bridgewoods-aaor


Description, Maps

Contributed by David Mapley on 28/09/2003
This bunker was built in the early 1950s and was of the single-storey Anti Aircraft Command type. The bunker was built in the middle of Fort Bridgewoods, which was situated on the outskirts of Rochester adjacent to the old Maidstone-Rochester road.

The site was acquired by the War Office in about 1860 to form part of a ring of forts protecting Chatham Dockyard - stretching from the Medway to the Thames. There was not enough money to build the forts as planned and only five of the original large works plus two small experimental redoubts were actually built. Work did not actually get underway until 30 years later in 1890, by which time the enemy it was supposed to repulse - France - was an ally, and the new enemy was imperial Germany.

Because of budget restraints no fixed armament was mounted. Instead earthen ramps were built to enable field artillery to fire from the fort's parapets. The fort, along with the rest of the line, was of a radical departure from traditional design being of earth construction, with a deep dry moat and not very visible from a distance. Under the earthen walls were magazines and living quarters for the garrison. To link four of the forts (Luton, Horstead, Bridgewoods and Borstal) a railway with convicts as the motive power was used to haul building materials between sites. A new large building was constructed above the village of Borstal to house the workforce. Later this became a prison for young offenders and gave its name to a new type of correctional institute.

From completion until the outbreak of WWII Fort Bridgewoods was only sporadically garrisoned (apart from WWI) when trials with gun-laying radar were undertaken at the Fort. With radar installed, Bridgewoods served as HQ for anti-aircraft guns in the Thames Estuary with its two flanking forts of Horsted and Borstal being amongst the most up-to-date anti-aircraft batteries in Britain.

It was only natural that with the coming of the A-bomb a new protected HQ be built at Bridgewoods in the early 1950s. Shortly after completion Anti Aircraft Command was disbanded and the site used for Civil Defence preparation and training. In 1960 the protected HQ became the RHQ for London (South) and remained in use until the early 1970s. In 1975 the site was sold to a local property developer who quickly demolished the fort and bunker. The site remained empty for a number of years and is now a ParcelForce depot.



Location: 51.359722, 0.494444, OS TQ737652 (Maps: Google, Bing, Aerial View, OldMapsOnline, NLSOSLidar, )

Loading map...

 

DescriptionCategories
Northfleet KilnsFactories and Storage, Civil Defence, Transport
Hollingbourne Zero Station (Auxiliary Units)Military - Land
Sheppey Harty Ferry Air Raid ShelterCivil Defence
Grain FortMilitary - Land
Coldblow Ace High Relay StationRadar
Chatham Southern Water Emergency Control CentreNuclear Bunkers, Sewers, Sanitation and Water
Hoo FortMilitary - Land
Darnley MausoleumPlaces To Visit, Religious and Burial
Tenterden ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Rodmersham Green ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Rainham (Kent) ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Pluckley ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Penshurst ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Linton ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Farningham ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Eastchurch ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Cranbrook ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Cliffe ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Borough Green ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Bethersden ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Allhallows ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Fort PittCivil Defence, Military - Land
St Matthews School Air Raid ShelterCivil Defence, Places To Visit
Civil Defence Control Centre GravesendMilitary - Intelligence and Communication, Places To Visit
Stoke School Wartime ShelterCivil Defence
Eastchurch Airfield Battle HQMilitary - Air
Hosey Common Stone QuarryMines
West Malling Airfield Battle HQMilitary - Air
Detling Airfield Battle HQMilitary - Air
Grove TunnelTransport
Sheerness RNXS Emergency Port ControlMilitary - Sea, Nuclear Bunkers
Queenborough Sub ControlGovernment - Local, Nuclear Bunkers
Tunbridge Wells Regional War RoomGovernment - National and Regional, Nuclear Bunkers
Maidstone Springfields Kent County Emergency CentreGovernment - Local, Nuclear Bunkers
Gillingham Borough ControlGovernment - Local, Nuclear Bunkers
Dartford Emergency CentreGovernment - Local, Nuclear Bunkers
Grain TowerMilitary - Land
Darenth Wood Dene HoleMines
Wateringbury ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Snodland ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Sheldwich Lees ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Sheerness ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Oare ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Lenham ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Horsmonden ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Headcorn ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Greenhithe ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Brasted ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Bearsted ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Fort Bridgewoods AAORMilitary - Land, Nuclear Bunkers
Lullingstone Castle Ice HouseIce Wells
Chatham Dockyard Commissioner's House Ice HouseIce Wells
Knole House Ice WellIce Wells
HMS WildfireMilitary - Sea, Military - Air
Hoo ROC PostNuclear Monitoring Posts
Fort AmherstMilitary - Land, Places To Visit
Maidstone ROC Group HQMilitary - Air, Nuclear Bunkers
George Vaults RochesterFactories and Storage, Places To Visit
Tonbridge Slade School Air Raid ShelterCivil Defence
Rochester Shorts Brothers Factory and Public Air Raid ShelterCivil Defence, Factories and Storage