New Tavern Fort

Fabulous tour. Thank you Jay (& Stephen)

Lovely example of a Thames Fort. Great views over the river and to the Tilbury Fort opposite side of the Thames. Few howitzers to see and a mortar gun plus a couple of land mounted naval guns. The fort is in pretty good shape considering it’s right next to run down areas and council estates. The landscape is nice. Only negative is the amount of discarded plastic bottles, glass bottles and waste from food outlets. Such a shame as it looks like the gardeners do a fantastic job.

Nice little fort to have a walk around. Shame about groups of people hanging around inside the fort when we visited.

The new Tavern Fort is park of an area of Gravesend that includes the Milton Chantry chapel, Riverside Leisure Area and Gravesend Promenade.

The fort and leisure area are open during daylight hours and for special events. Milton Chantry is only open though certain hours of the day and run by English Heritage, in conjunction with Gravesham Council. Access to the fort is free apart from when special events are held in the park.

The fort contains a number of guns and cannon, used during it's history as a fort, as well as magazines used to store armaments, some of which can be see on display in the fort.

Open on weekends is the ammunition stores, with an array of displays relating to the New Tavern Fort's use as a gun emplacement, protecting the River Thames. In addition, there are also displays covering WW2, on the home front in Gravesend, with various types of air raid shelters and civilian life during WW2 .
Admission to the ammunition stores is £1 per person, and there is an information sheet as to the purpose of which each room was used for, or the various displays.

On the promenade area, there is an open air gym free to use by the Gravesend Rowing Club.

On my visit, there was also a fun fair on the promenade and the New Tavern Fort have been used for a recent Gravesend Pride day.

Worth visiting if you are in Gravesend

This is a gem for the military enthusiast and has something for all all, as it is set in attractive gardens. There is a wonderful collection of artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns. If you are lucky enough to arrive on a day which the interior of the fort is open, you can also enter the tunnels and observe how the fort worked.

Really nice park and fort next to the river. Its a really nice place to bring your kids or dogs. Right in the center of Gravesend 5 minutes walk from the hight street

A great fort and well preserved and only a pound entry for kids and adults , very educational and well kept , well worth seeing and the staff are lovely and well clued up.