Cawsand Fort
The fort overlooking Cawsand was built in the 1860s on the site of a gun battery from 1779, covering the western entrance to Plymouth Sound. At the time, the expanding French Navy prompted a Royal Commission instigated by Lord Palmerston to improve Britain's coastal defences in case France attempted an invasion. However, by the time the forts were complete it had become clear that France had no intention of invading and the forts became known as Palmerston's Follies. The site was released by the Ministry of Defence after the First World War and was derelict for a number of decades until it was eventually converted into residential accommodation.
On walks
- Rame Head and Cawsand (5.6 mile walk)