Our experience and understanding of historic forts has won us the appointment of Conservation Architect at Newhaven Fort in East Sussex. Newhaven Fort sits in a prominent position on a cliff top overlooking the mouth of the River Ouse and Newhaven harbour – a ‘gateway’ to East Sussex and the South Downs National Park.

Built in the 19th Century, Newhaven Fort is the largest work of defence ever built in Sussex and is the last of a long series of coastal defences built on the cliffs overlooking Seaford Bay, dating back to the Iron Age. The Fort was originally built as part of the network of 72 coastal defences, that later became known as ‘Palmerston’s Follies’, to protect the South Coast of England against the threat of French invasion in the conflict with Napoleon III.

Since 1988, Lewes District Council has run the fort as a military heritage attraction and in 2015, Wave Leisure Trust took on the fort as the operators on behalf of the council.

Lewes District Council and Wave Leisure have been successful in securing £5.8m from the Government’s Towns Fund towards improving Newhaven Fort as a visitor attraction. Works to the Scheduled Monument will include extensive repairs of the historic fabric, conversion of a casemate in a new reception and shop, remedial works to the Romney Hut including the steel frame and cladding, and creation of new exhibitions in the casemates.

We will bring our wealth and experience of working on similar forts and structures connected with the defence of the realm, and are looking forward to developing this exciting project with the client and specialist design team.