Harwich Redoubt Fort - Paranormal Night

ADDRESS FOR THIS EVENT - Harwich Redoubt Fort, Main Road, Harwich CO12 3LT

Join Kallima on their brilliant Paranormal Night.

We are once again checking out the impressive Redoubt Fort which is located in Harwich.

On this night we have the sole use of the fort to carry out our investigation.

We will be checking out many of the casements and corridors, where many people have reported sightings and we will be holding lone vigils, séances, spirit box and much more to see what we can find

The cost of this fantastic night is £40 per person (this does not include transport - you have to make your own way there)

The price includes drinks and snacks at Redoubt Fort throughout the evening.

Due to safety reasons with have exclusions to our Paranormal Events These include the following:- - No pregnant ladies - No Persons with Mental Illnesses (vulnerable people) - No People under the influence of Drink or Drugs and non will be consumed during the event - Over 18's only We reserve the right to refuse bookings and ask for people to leave the venue if we consider the person or others to be vulnerable, this would be done for safety reasons for the person involved.

Brief history of the fort:-

An extremely impressive 180ft (60m) diameter circular fort built in 1808 to defend the port of Harwich against a Napoleonic invasion. Ten guns sit on the battlements. Eighteen casements below would house 300 troops in siege conditions.

Part of the fort is now used as a military museum. 

The fort was restored by the Harwich Society as a voluntary project.

Up a track off the Main Road, the moated circular Redoubt Fort was built in 1808 to defend the harbour against the threatened invasion of Napoleonic forces. It mounted ten 24-pounders and housed a regiment of soldiers with sufficient food and stores to withstay a lengthy siege. Fortunately it was never called upon to demonstrate its powers. 

It should be remembered that at the time the Redoubt was built (1808), Harwich stopped at the High Lighthouse, while Dovercourt was about a mile up the London Road. There was always a natural hill where the Redoubt now stands. Originally it was surmounted by a house, Hill House, which was purchased and demolished to make way for the Redoubt.

 There was also a conspicuous elm tree on the hill, known as Paine’s Tree, which was marked on old charts as a landmark for mariners. It was of great age and enormous girth and was so hollowed that it could be used as a shelter. It was removed to the Storekeeper’s garden at Ordnance Buildings where it served as a summer house for at least half a century. The tree was probably named after the man who owned Hill House. 

The London Road also came over the hill, and this had to be diverted to its present position (Main Road) except that at this time it was called New London Road.

After this site clearance, The Redoubt was then built on top of the hill. A retaining wall was subsequently built in a circle outside the fort, thus forming a dry moat between the two. Earth was brought by pannier donkeys from the nearby low lying area (now known as Bathside) and tipped around the outside of the retaining wall to form the earthworks, which are now covered by allotments. This excavation at Bathside had repercussions in the 1953 floods as the area was then below sea level. The water came in through a breach in the sea wall and stayed in. Eight lives were lost. The Redoubt earthworks form an integral part of the fort’s defences. It meant that only a very small portion of the fort was presented as a target, and cannon balls, which were aimed too low, lost themselves harmlessly in the earthworks. 

The building was completed in three years, which was an extremely quick time when one remembers that everything had to be done by hand. 

There is a local legend that French prisoners of war helped with the construction. 

The cost of the Redoubt was £55,000 – an enormous sum for those days.