Museums Journal returns to Fort Nelson to see how the project looks now it has been fully completed. By Simon Stephens.

Fort Nelson was one of a series of forts built along the Hampshire coast in the 1860s to protect the coastline from a French invasion. But shortly after they were completed, the Prussians defeated the French and the threat was removed.

As a result, Fort Nelson was never fully garrisoned and instead had various roles, including an anti-aircraft ammunition store during world war two. 

It was abandoned in the 1950s and was falling into disrepair until Hampshire County Council acquired it from the Ministry of Defence and restored it. The fort opened to the public in 1994 and became part of the Royal Armouries a year later.

The latest stage in its development has seen the Royal Armouries spend £3.5m on improving the interpretation and making the visitor experience a more comfortable one. This has included the creation of education facilities and a new visitor centre and cafe.

The Royal Armouries’ project has vastly improved the interpretation of the history of the site itself, but the complex is also home to the Royal Armouries collection of big guns, and this is what will attract many visitors.

Keeping it simple

The first gallery is the Voice of the Guns, a spectacular glazed space that has been cleverly integrated into the existing structure.

A massive section of an Iraqi supergun thrusts up from the ground floor to the mezzanine level where you enter the gallery. This modern-day weapon is nicely contrasted with a huge bronze Turkish bombard dating from 1464.

The interpretation that accompanies the two guns sets the tone for the rest of the museum. It’s informative without being over-complicated, although the technical details are there for those who want them. 

The main graphic panels keep things simple: “The Great Bombard, firing huge stone balls, was the heavy demolition weapon of the Middle Ages.”

The text accompanying the supergun is similarly straightforward: “Everything about the design of [Dr Gerald] Bull’s new gun was ‘super’. The barrel would be nearly three times the height of Nelson’s column. The projectile that it would fire would be almost as big as a telephone box.”

The graphics panels are at a good height for kids and adults. Protection of the exhibits is kept low-key, with “do not sit or climb” signs preferred to barriers in most cases, which allows visitors to get really close to the objects.

While the big weapons in the Voice of the Guns gallery are the undoubted stars of the show, there is a lot more to see. The next few galleries are far smaller in scale and provide a history of Fort Nelson itself.

This kicks off with a gallery called Why Was Fort Nelson Built? Here, like some of the displays that follow, finding suitable objects has obviously been a bit of a challenge. 

The space is dominated by large graphic panels and there is a bit of repetition, with an image of Lord Palmerston, who commissioned the study that led to the construction of the five forts, appearing three times, for example.

Attention to detail

An AV display at the front of the gallery asks: “Why did Britain feel threatened?” “How did Britain expect to be attacked?”

“What did Britain do to defend itself?” Each question is answered by a short film that gives a clear and easy to understand explanation, although the image quality is not fantastic, maybe because the AV is screened on a tabletop. 

The next gallery, How Was Fort Nelson Built? follows the same format, featuring large graphic panels and a tabletop AV. But there are a few more objects in this space, including examples of 17 building materials that featured in the construction of Fort Nelson, many of which visitors can touch.

As well as the information about the key players behind the development of Fort Nelson, such as Lord Palmerston, there is also information on those who laboured to build it, such as the navvies, who “tramped from job to job with a reputation for hard drinking and riotous living”.

Subsequent galleries show visitors what Fort Nelson looked like in different periods of its history, the role of the artillery volunteers who were based at the site, and the work of the Victorian hospital. 

There are nice touches in these galleries, including a kit inspection display and various things to pull out and, sometimes, smell, including an infected wound that really should be avoided close to lunchtime. 

There are also two beds sitting side by side, one spanking clean, the other blood-soaked and on the floor; a simple but effective way of showing how the nurse Florence Nightingale developed practices to improve hygiene in 19th-century hospitals.

Later on, there are some galleries that are not part of the recent refurbishment. The focus is again on the Royal Armouries’ cannon and guns. The graphic panels are not as tightly worded as the new galleries but the displays still have a clean and accessible feel about them.

There is a lot to see at Fort Nelson. As well as the galleries, outside spaces feature displays of gun firing and there are the extensive ramparts to explore with views over Portsmouth and the surrounding countryside.

There are also the atmospheric tunnels that run under the parade ground and were designed to get people safely and quickly to their firing positions. 

These could provide an opportunity for further development at Fort Nelson to add to what is already a very satisfying visit.

Project data

Cost £3.5m
Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund £2.26m; Royal Armouries capital budget £500,000; Garfield Weston Foundation; Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Galleries Improvement Fund; Foyle Foundation; John Ellerman Foundation; J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust
Architect PRS
Exhibition design and build Haley Sharpe
Main contractor Mansell
Project and commercial management Greenwood Projects
Project management ProjectSmart

© Museums Journal 2012