View source for Tregantle Fort

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name              = Tregantle Fort
|partof            =
|location          =
|coordinates       = {{coord|50.357071|N|4.270042|W|display=inline,title}}
|image             = Tregantle Fort (0011).jpg
|caption           = Rear view of the Fort, showing windows of accommodation casemates
|image2            =
|caption2          =
|map_type          = Cornwall
|type              =
|code              =
|built             = 1859-1865
|builder           =
|materials         = Earth<br>Masonry
|height            =
|used              = Training base <br> Rifle range
|demolished        =
|condition         = Complete
|ownership         = Ministry of Defence
|open_to_public    = No
|controlledby      =
|garrison          =
|current_commander =
|commanders        =
|occupants         =
|battles           =
|events            =
|embedded              =
{{Infobox historic site
| embed                = yes
| designation1         = Scheduled monument
| designation1_offname = Tregantle Fort
| designation1_date    = 19 January 1968
| designation1_number  = {{listed building England|1004346}}
| designation2         = Grade II
| designation2_offname = Tregantle Fort
| designation2_date    = 26 January 1987
| designation2_number  = {{listed building England|1159255}}
}}
}}
[[File:Fort Tregantle from the sea Geograph 294444 b4efa317.jpg|thumb|right|300px|{{center|The fort viewed from the sea}}]]
'''Tregantle Fort''' in south east [[Cornwall]] is one of several [[Forts of Plymouth|forts surrounding Plymouth]] that were built as a result of a decision in [[Lord Palmerston]]'s premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases on the Channel coast.
==History==
The fort was originally designed by Captain William Crossman, with later modifications by Captain (later Maj General) [[Edmund Frederick Du Cane]],<ref>Freddy Woodward, (1996) The Historic Defences of Plymouth, Cornwall County Council, p176</ref> Construction commenced in 1859 and was completed in 1865.
When originally designed it had provision for 35 large guns. By 1893 the guns consisted of five [[RBL 7 inch Armstrong gun]]s and nineteen RML 64-pounders, together with a number of [[SBBL 32-pounder|32 Pounder Smooth Bore Breech Loading (SBBL) guns]].<ref>The National Archives WO196/31, Ports and harbours Western District: Revision of Coast defence armaments prior to June 1894</ref>
[[File:Tregantle rifle butts Geograph 1335927 3f46844e.jpg|thumb|{{center|Rifle butts below the fort}}]]
It was also designed with barrack accommodation for 2,000 men in two-tiered casemates at the rear of the Fort. In the event, far smaller garrisons have been based there, with only six gunners in 1882.
Early in the 1900s it became an infantry battalion headquarters with 14 officers and 423 other ranks,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1159255 |accessdate=2 November 2009}}</ref> and from 1903 was used for rifle training. Tregantle is infamous within the armed forces because many of the rifle ranges located there slope steeply down towards the sea.  These ranges are still in use, primarily by personnel located at [[HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)|HMS ''Raleigh'']].
Tregantle was vacated after [[World War I]] until 1938, when it was used as the [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] Passive Air Defence School. During World War II it was used first as the Army Gas School and from 1942 as US Army accommodation.
Since 1945 the fort, and the cliffs, beach and sea to the south-west, have been in use by the British Armed Forces. It is currently part of the Defence Estate and used for [[Royal Marine]] training. It is also used by specialist Royal Naval [[Electronic warfare|EW]] teams (FEWSG) for the monitoring of ship's communications in the area. FEWSG operate specialist coded transmission scenarios from Tregantle Fort and surrounding areas for Naval warships to decode at sea as part of an ongoing training schedule. In January 2020 a Royal Marine died in a training exercise off the beach.<ref name=guardian-20200125>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/25/royal-marine-recruit-dies-cornwall-beach |title=Royal Marine recruit dies after Cornwall beach training exercise |agency=Press Association |newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 January 2020 |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref>
==Tregantle Down high-angle battery==
{{Main article|Tregantle Down Battery}}
A few hundred yards southeast of Tregantle Fort, along the north side of the road, there was constructed in the 1890s a battery of four [[RML 9 inch 12 ton gun|9-inch muzzle-loading guns]] on "high-angle" mountings. These were intended to fire shells along a high curving trajectory to more easily penetrate the decks of ships at sea to the south. Although the guns and mountings are long gone and the site is filled in, the area is clearly recognisable in aerial photographs.
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|first=Ian V|last=Hogg|title=Coast Defences of England and Wales 1856-1956|publisher=David & Charles|year=1974|isbn=0-7153 6353-0}}
*{{cite book|first=Freddy|last=Woodward|title=The Historic Defences of Plymouth|publisher=Cornwall County Council|year=1996|isbn=978-1898166467}}
==External links==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
* [http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/tregantle.pdf Victorian Forts data sheet]
{{Commons category|Tregantle Fort}}
{{oscoor gbx|SX386532}}
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Forts in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Forts of Plymouth, Devon]]
[[Category:Military history of Cornwall]]
[[Category:Palmerston Forts]]
[[Category:Grade II listed forts]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Cornwall]]