Fort Amherst Museums

Fort Amherst is a Georgian Fortress set in over 15 acres of parkland, consisting of caves, tunnels, gun-batteries and barracks.

The Civil Defence building was formally a search light store used by the Territorial Army. It contains a unique collection of artefacts and documents coving the history of Air Raid Precautions (ARP) and Civil Defence (CD) from the period before the Second World War up to 1967 when the CD organisation was dismantled.

The tunnels main use was to serve the gun emplacements in the hillside covering the section of the main ditch that ran from the river Medway in Chatham on up and over the hillside towards Gillingham. These gun emplacements were inside on two levels (lower & upper gun floors).

Our tunnels are some 2,500 feet in length (750M) and approximateley 20m or 60 odd feet below ground level. Contained within the system are a number of rooms and differing passages all lit and safe to explore.

The main magazine held 1,000 barrels or 45 tonnes of gun powder which was stored in barrels similar to those on display. The fittings on the barrels were made of copper to prevent sparks. Huge Cavity walls with tunnels and a wooden suspended floor with air vents prevented the build up of damp.

The Guard House contained a small garrison who controlled the flow of traffic through the gate on the lower level, and closed gates after curfew time. It contains two small barrack rooms on the East Side upper level. The lower level has a series of of musket firing loops to protect the approach to the gate and a Kitchen for the use of the guard. .