Kilroot Fort - Magazine (right gun)
This is the main magazine for the right (south) gun. It was in this room that tons of highly explosive cordite charge bags would have been stored for the large 6 inch guns above.
Working with explosives was a dangerous business, so control measures were in place to minimise accidents. Workers had first to enter the shifting lobby where they would remove their outer clothes, discard any contraband such as lighters or matches, remove their hobnail boots, and place on cotton fatigues and rubber soled shoes.
The room itself was the deepest room in the fort, was lit by paraffin lamps in glass fronted recesses which could not be accessed from the magazine itself in order to prevent fire, and the floor itself appears to be covered with a bituminous or rubber covering - a spark reducing measure.
An example lamp recess is on the right wall, at the far end. It appears there may be a second recess to the right on the far wall.
Charges were transferred from this room to the gun positions via an issue hatch, in this room and image is at the far end, at ground level, on the left. It has been since bricked up.
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I was privileged to have a tour of the old Kilroot Fort on Belfast Lough at the end of December 2019. The fort is privately owned and in daily use by heavy industry. It can not be accessed without permission.
Constructed as a sister coastal artillery battery to Grey Point Fort, the battery at Kilroot was completed in 1910 and equipped with twin 6in guns in barbettes. The two gun positions have since been removed, as have two flanking infantry blockhouses, and the earth banks to the front have also been dug away, exposing the front of the fort structure and helpfully giving an insight into construction. It appears that all the ancillary fort buildings remain and are still in daily use, and a large proportion of the original internal boundary wall exists. Kilroot shares a number of features with Grey Point fort but does not appear to have seen the further developments that Grey Point saw.
There doesn't appear to be a Battery Commanders post remaining at Kilroot and I am unsure where it would have been.
On the shore are two searchlight (aka DEL; Defence Electric Light) emplacements constructed from reinforced concrete with steel fittings. These are unique in that they are two stories high and sit elevated above the Lough. The purpose of the lower level is unclear, but the steel shuttering and profile of the windows or loopholes suggests they may also have served as infantry fighting positions. However, they only open to the flanks and rear of the post, and not to the front. The lower level may even have served as a crew shelter or generator room, however I saw no evidence of a plinth for such equipment. The upper level houses the Defence Electric Light or searchlight, and would have bene operated by an Electric Light Operator (ELO) to signal to and light up shipping attempting to enter Belfast Lough.
The battery and searchlight emplacements are now scheduled monuments.
Kilroot Fort - Magazine (right gun)
This is the main magazine for the right (south) gun. It was in this room that tons of highly explosive cordite charge bags would have been stored for the large 6 inch guns above.
Working with explosives was a dangerous business, so control measures were in place to minimise accidents. Workers had first to enter the shifting lobby where they would remove their outer clothes, discard any contraband such as lighters or matches, remove their hobnail boots, and place on cotton fatigues and rubber soled shoes.
The room itself was the deepest room in the fort, was lit by paraffin lamps in glass fronted recesses which could not be accessed from the magazine itself in order to prevent fire, and the floor itself appears to be covered with a bituminous or rubber covering - a spark reducing measure.
An example lamp recess is on the right wall, at the far end. It appears there may be a second recess to the right on the far wall.
Charges were transferred from this room to the gun positions via an issue hatch, in this room and image is at the far end, at ground level, on the left. It has been since bricked up.
----------
I was privileged to have a tour of the old Kilroot Fort on Belfast Lough at the end of December 2019. The fort is privately owned and in daily use by heavy industry. It can not be accessed without permission.
Constructed as a sister coastal artillery battery to Grey Point Fort, the battery at Kilroot was completed in 1910 and equipped with twin 6in guns in barbettes. The two gun positions have since been removed, as have two flanking infantry blockhouses, and the earth banks to the front have also been dug away, exposing the front of the fort structure and helpfully giving an insight into construction. It appears that all the ancillary fort buildings remain and are still in daily use, and a large proportion of the original internal boundary wall exists. Kilroot shares a number of features with Grey Point fort but does not appear to have seen the further developments that Grey Point saw.
There doesn't appear to be a Battery Commanders post remaining at Kilroot and I am unsure where it would have been.
On the shore are two searchlight (aka DEL; Defence Electric Light) emplacements constructed from reinforced concrete with steel fittings. These are unique in that they are two stories high and sit elevated above the Lough. The purpose of the lower level is unclear, but the steel shuttering and profile of the windows or loopholes suggests they may also have served as infantry fighting positions. However, they only open to the flanks and rear of the post, and not to the front. The lower level may even have served as a crew shelter or generator room, however I saw no evidence of a plinth for such equipment. The upper level houses the Defence Electric Light or searchlight, and would have bene operated by an Electric Light Operator (ELO) to signal to and light up shipping attempting to enter Belfast Lough.
The battery and searchlight emplacements are now scheduled monuments.