English Heritage

King Charles II commissioned the great artillery fort you see at Tilbury today, after a humiliating Dutch raid in 1667.

Tilbury Fort is England’s best example of a 17th-century bastioned fortress, with its complete circuit of moats and ‘outworks’ still substantially surviving. Prisoners were held here after the Jacobite Rising of 1745; much later, the fort’s guns helped shoot down a raiding Zeppelin in 1916.

Visit the exhibition to discover Tilbury’s role in the defence of London. The atmospheric Victorian magazine tunnels give you a glimpse into the life of a 19th-century gunner.

Then step out onto the fort ramparts for impressive views across the Thames to the historic riverside town of Gravesend.