Fort Paull

Fort Paull stands on the north bank of the Humber, near the village of Paull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The fort overlooks the wide estuary where the river meets the North Sea, about ten kilometres downstream from Hull. Its pentagonal shape was designed in the 1860s as one of the Palmerston coastal defences recommended by the Royal Commission. Earlier batteries were built here in the 16th, 17th and early 19th centuries, but the present structure dates from 1861–64. Concrete emplacements for three 6-inch breech-loading guns replaced nineteen 64-pounder muzzle-loaders in 1894. The fort’s military past includes a mining station added in 1886 and searchlights installed in 1907. During the First World War it was disarmed because it lay too close to Hull, and in the Second World War it became a magazine for Russian convoy supplies. A degaussing station was built then as well. After the war the site served as a training base before opening as a museum in 2000. It later housed the last complete Blackburn Beverley transport aircraft until the collection was auctioned in 2020. Visitors now find a restored gun battery with original concrete emplacements and searchlight positions. The surrounding grass ramparts give wide views across the Humber to the distant Lincolnshire coast. Inside the fort the magazine rooms and degaussing building remain, while outside the parade ground is used for events. The reopening in 2024 marks the start of a new phase for the site, with plans to host classic car meets and other gatherings once more.