Royal Armouries: Fort Nelson — Attraction in Winchester

Fort Nelson a royal armoury, in our hometown of Portsmouth, sitting proudly on top of the chalky hilltops of Portsdown Hill, overlooking Portsmouth.

A little background about Fort Nelson: The fort was built between 1860-1870’s and was purposely placed on the summit of Portsdown Hill so it would overlook the very important naval base below at the harbour mouth of Portsmouth. The fortification was a typical Palmeston fort which was protected by three Caponiers, these Caponiers were large in size and housed 13 inch mortars.

The fort housed around 172 officers and men. What was interesting about this fort is that it faced inland away from Portsmouth and it’s primary goal was to deter from any attacks inland, but fortunately they never saw any attacks or action from inland or the French via the English Channel if any attempts were made post 1870.

Inside the fort where you can explore all 19 acres of this beautiful place you will come across a plethora of artillery including 64- pounder rifle muzzled loaders, 7-inch rifled breech loaders, 6-inch howitzers and over 300 modern day super guns and pre-gunpowder era guns throughout the years.

There really is so much to see and explore for yourselves with plenty of historical facts placed throughout the ramparts and inside the museum you can visit here taking some history away with you. Something of interest is the biggest British gun to survive from the war, which is the magnificent 18 inch Railway Howitzer, a British railway gun that was developed during world war 1 but not used till the 1920’s. Weighing over 200 Double Decker buses and near to around 200 tonnes, it stands proudly preserved here at Fort Nelson. Unfortunately during our visit, the gun was kept preserved in a building outside which is only accessible during tours.

Great news about the museum and the fort is that it is free to enter, you only have to pay £3 for your parking which you can do at the front desk as you enter aswell as receiving a leaflet about the fort as you arrive.

Overall, you can spend the entire day here with family, the area is perfect for kids and teaching them about the war, as well as for history buffs with over 700 different artefacts and artillery to glance at, and if you get a little tired they have a lovely cafe to end up in to relax.

You can follow our journey and what we are getting up to on our Instagram and Youtube below:

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Highlights of my trip to the UK in 2017 were visiting Fort Nelson and Winchester Cathedral. At Fort Nelson I felt like I was stepping back in time, an army officer fighting battles from within a massive, forified Victorian fort with secret underground tunnels and ammunition bunkers that run below the fort connecting the magazines with gun emplacements. Built in the 1860s, high on Portsdown Hill, with views over Portsmouth, it's strategically located to protect the important naval base of Portsmouth.

Interestingly, Fort Nelson, construction of which was completed in 1871, is so named for no reason other than its proximity to the nearby Nelson monument which was erected in 1808.

Fort Nelson has been fully restored and as well as the fortified fort itself, the Victorian garrison’s barrack rooms where the men rested and lived, the hospital where the sick and injured were looked after by nurses like Florence Nightingale, and the kitchen where they cooked and ate, you can walk through the underground tunnels and ammunition bunkers. Also on display at the fort is the impressive Royal Armouries collection of artillery including large and small guns from across the centuries, including some of the biggest guns ever made like Saddam Hussein’s ‘Iraqi Supergun’, which is so large that only a small section of it angled across two floors is on display.

The facilities are great and include a cafe and shop in the fort's Visitor Centre. The staff is super friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. Admission to the Fort as well as to the Royal Armouries Museum is free and a visit is highly...

This is a great place as it is free, you do pay for parking but that is it! There are a few things I would like to touch on. It is not clear at entry how to donate, there is a coin collection but neither of us really use money and haven't done for years. There was one text donation sign and I saw at the end a £3 donation at the till. It would be great if they had some signs up as you walk in, or even encouraged and told to donate when you check in (I feel the museum is missing out on money!) A couple of the exhibits were on raised flat screens which is hard to see and I also do not think it would be easy for wheelchair uses to see these very well either. There was no clear timeline, each room seemed to jump. The gift shop is well stocked but it always drives me insane when they have a girls and boys section. The boys is related more to the museum and has action toys, the girls has Unicron stuff. Then there are the clear boy and girl themed free standing podiums, one with stuff linked to the museum's theme, bullets, army coloured lanyard ect and the girls is pink and purple more stationary themed. I saw a girl in there not once look at stuff aimed at her, and a boy over excited at the girls themed podium looking at a red note pad! It says a lot. It would be nice to see a gift shop completely aimed at being the museums theme. I know that it is a free museum and it is truly great, however their aim is to educate and get donations to help with funding. I just feel they are missing...