CLIFFE FORT ABSAILING AN WADERS HD

At the northern border of Cliffe Parish, where it meets the River Thames, stands Cliffe Fort. Cliffe Fort is one of 5 surviving coastal forts in the Thames and Medway; the others are Coalhouse, Garrison Point, Hoo and Darnet. All are these are Royal Commission Coastal Forts, built in the same period 1860-70, and are casemented coastal batteries. Each is different in terms of layout and design. Slough Fort also exists and has recently undergone a degree of restoration, but is substantially smaller than the other coastal forts. There are also remains of two others, Shormead and Grain. The point at which Cliffe Fort was built was carefully chosen as it stands at the point where the Thames Estuary suddenly narrows and on a bend in the river making the site an ideal spot to hamper and deny enemy shipping to access London. Together, with other river defences at Shornmead Fort and Coalhouse Fort, formed an outer line of defence with Gravesend and Tilbury Forts, a little further upstream, forming an inner defence line.