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If you’ve ever explored Kent’s Medway area, including the Medway Towpath or parts of the Saxon Shore Way, you might have caught sight of the county’s legendary sea forts. These eerie structures once played a key role as naval defences, but most are now abandoned. Probably the last thing you’d expect to find inside one is a reiki healing session full of millennial hipsters.
Until now, that is. Fort Darnet, a Victorian sea fort in Kent’s River Medway, could be getting revamped into an events space, featuring everything from music to ghost hunts. Mick Jennings, the owner of Fort Darnet, fell in love with the forts after visiting one in the Solent (the stretch of water between the Isle of Wight and the Hampshire coast).
‘I said to my wife “we've got to have a fort - it's something we have to bid on”. We did and were successful’, he told the BBC.
Jennings, who bought Fort Darnet last year, has big plans to turn the structure into a booming visitor attraction. He added that the island had ‘fantastic’ acoustics, and explained he has even been approached by musicians about filming there.
According to Savills, the auction house which sold Fort Darnet, the fort was built between 1870 and 1872. It was originally designed to hold a garrison of 100 men and used for gunnery practice – a far cry from guided meditation and all that. The fort’s website warns Fort Darnet is currently unsafe for the public due to ‘unstable structures, concealed drops and water-filled areas’.
Safety is a high priority for Jennings before he makes any long-term plans. He told the BBC: ‘We are going to drain the water out and get some safety features in place. There are some massive holes. It is a dangerous place at the moment’.
Exactly what events will be held at Fort Darnet – and when the place might open to visitors – is yet to be confirmed. Medway Council, the local authority of Medway, is apparently backing the plans to open up Fort Darnet’s island, as long as its wildlife and the surrounding environment are protected.
Jennings reckons it’ll be a one-of-a-kind destination, saying: ‘The magical thing is when you come here - you can't get that feeling until you are on an island. The views, eerie, magical, it's got all those things.’
If you’re in the mood to check out a fort in the meantime, Fort Amherst is just a few miles away on land. As Britain’s biggest Napoleonic fort, it’s open to the public and hosts regular historical re-enactments, craft fairs, and music events.
Rock concert/yoga sesh/ghost hunting in an abandoned sea fort? Count us in.
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