FORT BROCKHURST

Fort Brockhurst, Nr. Gosport, Hampshire

One of five forts built to protect Portsmouth Harbour and naval installations on the Gosport Peninsula between 1858-62, Fort Brockhurst certainly possesses the atmosphere of a medieval castle, right down to the fact that you enter it via a drawbridge, which spans a water filled moat.

Fort  Brockhurst
Photograph By John Mason
The Haunted Realm

Its walls, however, are low and squat, since the high walls that made earlier strongholds so impregnable could have been easily destroyed by the new artillery of the 19th century.

Fort Brockhurst's interior, however, is immense, and such is its spooky ambience that the London Vampyre Group chose it as the venue for their ‘Gothic’ "Feast of the Vampyres Banquet" in August 2002 - although the inclusion of a vegetarian option suggests a lack of commitment on the part of some members!

A ghost that is more often heard than seen, and which appears to have a preference for cell number three is said to haunt the Fort Brockhurst.

It is thought that phantom footsteps that often echo through the corridors are those of a long dead Sergeant Major making a spectral inspection of Fort Brockhurst.

The measured tread of his footsteps is often accompanied by the sound of his tuneless whistling, as he repeats a ritual that he no doubt performed many times in life, and has continued with for many years after his mortal self has left Forth Brockhurst.