Polhawn Fort

Polhawn Fort stands on a steep, shrub-covered slope at Queener Point, near the eastern end of Whitsand Bay. It overlooks the wide sweep of the bay and the distant naval dockyards at Devonport. The site is reached along a quiet lane that leads to the hamlet of Rame, half a kilometre away. The fort was built between 1861 and 1865 to guard Plymouth Harbour and Devonport Dockyard. Its designer was Edmund Du Cane, a British army officer who planned a single gun emplacement to repel enemy landings. The fort never fired its guns in anger, though its armament changed several times. The original seven 68-pounders were replaced in 1885 by 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loaders. These too were soon removed, and by the First World War the fort served as accommodation for gunners from the nearby Whitesand Bay Battery. In the 1930s it became a hotel and café, and after the Second World War it was converted into flats. Since 1988 it has operated as an exclusive guest house, especially popular for weddings. Visitors enter across a small ravelin and a drawbridge into a two-storey limestone casemate lined with granite. Inside, the upper floor still shows the gun positions, while the lower floor holds the magazine and quarters. The layout has altered little since 1865, and the fort’s quiet position offers long views over the bay and headland. The surrounding shrubs and the old military road to Tregantle Fort add to the sense of isolation.