Bastion Or Star Forts

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I'm fascinated by the ability of civilisations to construct any big structure, whether that be Stonehenge, a ship, a cathedral, pyramid or castle. In particular I marvel at the ability of people to be sufficiently well organised and determined to free up the manpower to do the construction. After all, the workers have to be fed, watered and generally kept whilst they busy themselves.
Scattered around Europe are to be found the engineer's answer to the cannonball - the Bastion or Star Fort.
I've visited and admired examples from the north of the Netherlands (at Bourtange on the border with Germany) down to Spain and Italy. They are generally huge with whole towns or villages within them. They first appeared in Italy in the 15th century and were copied and developed over the following three centuries.

So today I visited Graveline, just across the Channel. It's difficult to show the scale of the engineering but the plan of modern Graveline shows the original Star Fort at it's heart:

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Just half of one of the flanks of the fort looks like:

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I hope I'm not being too boring with this thread. I just want to share my enthusiasm!

(If anyone would like to drop in on one of the Dutch Star Forts next April during the Netherlands gathering..........................)

Colin ???
 
They are something i've never heard of so just had a quick read on wiki. It seems that they were something used on the continent but I presume not in the UK as I didn't see any mention of them here.

It's interesting how, despite time passing, so many places are still built around previous civilizations. I saw a programme about the Romans in Chester, and although there are no buildings left from that time, the layout of the principal streets are still the same.

Sounds like your having a good time.
 
yorkslass said:
They are something i've never heard of so just had a quick read on wiki. It seems that they were something used on the continent but I presume not in the UK as I didn't see any mention of them here.

It's interesting how, despite time passing, so many places are still built around previous civilizations. I saw a programme about the Romans in Chester, and although there are no buildings left from that time, the layout of the principal streets are still the same.

Sounds like your having a good time.
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Yes, fine examples too in Romania at Fagaras and a whopper at Alba Iulia, and one in need of tlc at Oradea.
 
Mr Mossy & I have nether seen the various others (CANT WAIT) to visit but Gravesline is very interesting we spend more & more time visiting the grounds exploring all the areas of the castle & moat grounds every time we travel over Dover -Dunkirk (annual holidays) we have gone for the last 5 years and found more to add to the list - its amazing how these where designed
 
yorkslass said:
They are something i've never heard of so just had a quick read on wiki. It seems that they were something used on the continent but I presume not in the UK as I didn't see any mention of them here.

It's interesting how, despite time passing, so many places are still built around previous civilizations. I saw a programme on the Romans in Chester, and although there are no buildings left from that time, the layout of the principal streets are still the same.

Sounds like your having a good time.
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I'm delighted that you found the Star Forts sufficiently interesting to delve deeper, Sue.
Thank you.
I'm not aware of any star forts in the UK but, as you point out, there's lots of other evidence of man's earlier endeavours. Your example of the Romans is a great one. Their road system has left a huge mark on our landscape and at St Albans Cathedral can be seen bits of Roman brick which has been recycled from earlier local Roman buildings. The Iron Age forts. The Neolithic flint mines known as Grimes Graves in Norfolk. The amazing ………. oh dear, here I go again.

I am having a good time, thanks Sue. I'm really fortunate because for me there's always something nearby that I know nothing about and need to understand - so I'm rarely bored.
Ignorance has it's benefits.

…............….so much to learn.
...............….so much to explore.
…….........…so little time.

Colin ???
 
Somewhere else on my "to visit" list. Not heard about Grimes Graves, but with luck i'll be in Norfolk next year. :)

I'm assuming we never had the need to build the star forts, being an island.
 
You're certainly not boring me.......

Over the years my family have become used to my walking them miles to see an earthwork, a fortification, an ancient village, or a green lane. It's a treat to see that my eldest son now does the same thing.

If you have a love of the countryside, then I strongly recommend "The Making of the English Landscape" by WG Hoskins. He wrote an abridged version called "English Landscapes". You can occasionally still pick up both in 2nd hand bookshops or charity shops.
 
Oh wow! We stayed at Gravelines overnight this summer during our Eurotrip - twice in fact- but had no idea of the formation of the fort. Thoroughly enjoyed exploring it though. You are a mine of interesting information Colin, thank you :)
 
Colin.
Have you ever investigated the "Palmerston Follies" along the south coast and around Kent/Essex.
They were, so I believe built to ward off the french. Some are now used by the military.
Off of Portsmouth there are three in the solent and further along the coast we have the Martello towers.
 
...... or the Sound Mirrors on the south coast.

State of the art technology that was overtaken by progress before they were finalised. The inventor was ordered to destroy them but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
 
yorkslass said:
Somewhere else on my "to visit" list. Not heard about Grimes Graves, but with luck i'll be in Norfolk next year. :)

I'm assuming we never had the need to build the star forts, being an island.
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It's well worth a visit, Sue. The flints from Grimes Graves were exported across Europe.
Before Brexit, of course.

Colin ???
 
HurricaneSmith said:
You're certainly not boring me.......

Over the years my family have become used to my walking them miles to see an earthwork, a fortification, an ancient village, or a green lane. It's a treat to see that my eldest son now does the same thing.

If you have a love of the countryside, then I strongly recommend "The Making of the English Landscape" by WG Hoskins. He wrote an abridged version called "English Landscapes". You can occasionally still pick up both in 2nd hand bookshops or charity shops.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, HS. I'll try to find a copy when I return to England.

Colin ???
 
LANDS43 said:
Colin.
Have you ever investigated the "Palmerston Follies" along the south coast and around Kent/Essex.
They were, so I believe built to ward off the french. Some are now used by the military.
Off of Portsmouth there are three in the solent and further along the coast we have the Martello towers.
Click to expand...

I stayed very close to a Martello tower a couple of nights ago when I stopped for a night at the C&CC site, Folkedtone. Wonderful structures. I lived in Southampton for a while so have seen the Palmerston Follies . Again, fascinating structures. Were they the towers used by the early pirate radio stations?

Colin ???
 
HurricaneSmith said:
...... or the Sound Mirrors on the south coast.

State of the art technology that was overtaken by progress before they were finalised. The inventor was ordered to destroy them but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of the Sound Mirrors. They're now on my list!
Thank you, HS.

Colin ???
 
Full Member said:
I'm not aware of the Sound Mirrors. They're now on my list!
Thank you, HS.

Colin ???
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Quite a few built between Boulby in N Yorks and Sunderland.

A good stop over If you go to Druridge next year. Will have to visit myself.

BBC did an interesting documentary, it may still be available.
 
yorkslass said:
Quite a few built between Boulby in N Yorks and Sunderland.

A good stop over If you go to Druridge next year. Will have to visit myself.

BBC did an interesting documentary, it may still be available.
Click to expand...

A mini gathering is called for, Sue!

Colin ???
 
Full Member said:
I stayed very close to a Martello tower a couple of nights ago when I stopped for a night at the C&CC site, Folkedtone. Wonderful structures. I lived in Southampton for a while so have seen the Palmerston Follies . Again, fascinating structures. Were they the towers used by the early pirate radio stations?

Colin ???
Click to expand...
The towers to my knowledge have never been used by pirate radio. They were in most cases derelict until say 25 years ago. Now some of them are private homes.
The forts in the Solent were admiralty property under the watchful eye of the Queens Harbour master Portsmouth. However, one is now a hotel and I think the other two can be visited. I think I am right in saying that the hotel was a luxury home at one point it went on the market for gazillions but failed to reach its asking price so had to be drastically reduced.
 
yorkslass said:
They are something i've never heard of so just had a quick read on wiki. It seems that they were something used on the continent but I presume not in the UK as I didn't see any mention of them here. [...]
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This had me doing a double-take because I thought that Plymouth Royal Citadel was a star fort (GPS: 50.364782, -4.137567). Prompted by this, I checked Wikipedia, which lists 11 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_star_forts#United_Kingdom. So there are some to visit in this country :)
 
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