Scheduled MonumentsEnglandFort Darnet, Darnet Ness

Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness

England
List entry 1019642
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1019642
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
2.81 hectares
Grid reference
TQ 80657 70731
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Fort Darnet is a Napoleonic coastal defence fort situated on Darnet Ness in the Thames Estuary, Kent. Constructed in the early nineteenth century as part of the extensive fortification programme undertaken during the Napoleonic Wars, the fort exemplifies the military architecture designed to protect the English coast against potential French invasion. The structure comprises a substantial masonry fortification with characteristic angled bastions typical of the period's defensive engineering. Now substantially ruined and subject to tidal inundation, Fort Darnet remains an important archaeological and historical witness to Britain's nineteenth-century coastal defence strategy.

Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1019642. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness?

Fort Darnet is a Napoleonic coastal defence fort situated on Darnet Ness in the Thames Estuary, Kent. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1019642.

Who is responsible for protecting Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness?

Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1019642.

What other scheduled monuments are near Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including World War II Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsite (TS3) at Wetham Green, 460m north of Red Brick Cottage (4.4 km), Chatham Dockyard, the Dockyard wall (5.3 km), Former guardhouse (5.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness

Fort Darnet, Darnet Ness stands on Thanet Sand Formation, bedrock that formed in the Thanetian. The rock here is sand, silt and clay.