Clifford's Fort Traditional Cache
Dubnut: Guess it's time to lay this one to rest.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(other)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
PLEASE DON'T POST PICTURES OF THE CACHE
Clifford's Fort, North Shields
Clifford's Fort was built in 1672, at the beginning of the 3rd Dutch War, to protect the mouth of the River Tyne and prevent enemy warships from entering the river. It was designed by a Swedish military engineer, Martin Beckman, and built by a Yorkshire architect, Robert Trollope.
Because the Fort was intended to resist attack from the sea, its firepower was concentrated in a riverside battery. This was intended to fire broadside and at close range at any attacking vessel. On the landward side, musket loopholes and occasional round cannon ports, and the natural channel of the Pow Burn, completed the defences. The main gateway was at the north end, and the Fort enclosed a lighthouse belonging to Trinity House and a three-storied brick Keep which contained gunpowder magazines.
The Fort was re-modelled between 1702 and 1707, and modernised again c.1757. The present form of riverside battery wall probably dates from this period. In the first half of the 19th century technical developments in the range and power of artillery made the close-range broadside battery redundant. Despite this the Fort was manned and maintained as a shore-based battery until 1888, when it became a depot for the Tyne Division Royal Engineers (Volunteers) Submarine Miners.
During its life as a Submarine Mining base the Fort was extended to the west, the Keep demolished, and new brick buildings constructed. A concrete-lined tramway led from the Mine Stores to an opening in the battery wall, where the electrically-fired mines were carried out onto a pier for laying at sea. The Submarine Mining garrison formally left the Fort in 1928, and its buildings were re-used by the fishing industry.
Despite its impressive fortifications, Clifford's Fort saw action on only two occasions. In 1804, after a drunken challenge, companies of the 61st regiment and the Northumberland and Lanark Militias crossed the Tyne from South Shields and unsuccessfully tried to capture the Fort from its Volunteer garrison. More seriously, in September 1941 the lifeboat house east of the Fort was destroyed by a German bomb during a raid on the Tyne, the first and only occasion that Clifford's Fort was subjected to enemy action!
Please bring your own writing implement to log your visit - Thanks.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures