Fort Paull
Former gun battery in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Paull is a gun battery situated on the north bank of the Humber, near the village of Paull, downstream from Hull in northern England.
| Fort Paull | |
|---|---|
Paull Cliff Battery Point Cliff Battery[1] | |
Aerial view | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Napoleonic War |
| Location | |
  Fort Paull Location within the East Riding | |
| Coordinates | 53.713360°N 0.229450°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1861–1864 |
| In use | 1864–1960 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Fort Paull, Museum, Armouries and Visitors Centre |
History
Batteries have been built at Paull by Henry VIII, Charles I during the Civil War during the siege of Hull and the Napoleonic Wars. The first fort built on the site was started in 1542 with a capacity for 12 guns.[2] The current fort is of pentagonal design and was built in 1861–4 and on the recommendations of the Royal Commission, hence it is one of the Palmerston Forts.[3]
The original emplacements, nineteen 64-pounder (29 kg) RML artillery pieces were concealed or demolished in 1894 when concrete emplacements for three 6-inch Breech Loading (BL) guns on hydropneumatic carriages and two 4.7-inch Quick Firing (QF) guns were built. A mining station was added in 1886 and searchlights followed in 1907.[2]
At the outset of the First World War, Paull was judged too close to Hull, so was disarmed when new forts were built at Sunk Island and Stallingborough.[4] The fort was used as a training base between the wars, and during the Second World War, it was converted into a magazine to serve the Russian convoys; a degaussing station was also added.[2]
Fort Paull opened to the public as a museum in 2000.[5] Following the closure of the Museum of Army Transport, it became the home of the last remaining complete Blackburn Beverley heavy transport aircraft.[6]
In January 2020, it was announced that the attraction would not be opening for the 2020 season.[7]
The museum's contents were auctioned on 19 September 2020.[8] The contents auction raised a six-figure sum, the Blackburn Beverley bringing in £21,000 on its sale to the Solway Aviation Museum.[9]
In May 2024 a post on Facebook announced the site had been bought and would be undergoing works to reopen.[10] The post referenced the desire to bring the site back for future generations and start running events there again. It mentions they will be starting from scratch after a lot of the museum's contents were auctioned off when it last closed. The attraction reopened on 28 September with a classic car weekend.[11]
Gallery
The last Blackburn Beverley
3.7 inch anti-aircraft gun
Entrance to Fort Paull
