Scraesdon Fort – A Question of Balance
Scraesdon Fort is part of the Anthony Training Area at DTE South West and was originally built as part of a ring of fortifications in the middle years of the nineteenth century, to protect the ships of the British Navy and the vital dockyards at Plymouth.
Royal Marines use the now overgrown Scraesdon for specialist training – the complete removal of the vegetation would render the fort useless for this purpose. However, the steady encroachment of trees and shrubs are blocking up drains in the previously dry moat and slowly prising apart and crumbling the fort’s masonry.The key challenge faced by Landmarc staff is ensuring that training can operate within the guidelines that come with the fort’s legally protected status as a Listed Building and Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is also on the Buildings at Risk Register.
An agreement with English Heritage, Landmarc and the Defence Estates Historic Environmental team has ensured certain areas of overgrowth are left as cover for military training, with others are removed to protect the fort’s preservation.
Other features include WW2 graffiti and bat roosts making Scraesdon one of the most complex sites that Landmarc manage.