Grey Point Fort

Grey Point Fort stands on the southern shore of Belfast Lough at Helen’s Bay, a coastal battery built to defend the port of Belfast. Construction began in 1904 and the guns were in place by 1907, part of a wider scheme noted in the Owen Report of 1905. Two 6-inch Mark VII breech-loading guns formed its main armament, later joined by searchlights in 1936. During the Second World War the fort was run by the 525th (Antrim) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, who added reinforced concrete covers over the gun positions. After coast artillery ended in 1956 the site was disarmed, though original guns were returned between 1992 and 1996 from Cork fortifications. The fort’s wartime role is recalled by the 525th Regiment’s service and the mobile radar installed in 1954. The two restored 6-inch guns now sit in their original emplacements, one brought from Fort Mitchel on Spike Island and the other from Fort Davis. Since 2008 the Grey Point Amateur Radio Society has opened the fort to visitors, preserving its military heritage. Concrete bunkers and searchlight positions remain visible around the site. The Owen Report of 1905 recorded the battery’s construction alongside a counterpart at Kilroot across the lough. Inside the fort a series of brick-built rooms and corridors lead to the gun platforms. Visitors walk past searchlight emplacements and radar bases still marked by their 1950s fittings. The restored guns face the lough, offering views across to the opposite shore. Concrete overhead covers shelter the gun crews’ positions, showing how the fort was adapted for modern warfare. The surrounding Helen’s Bay shoreline provides a quiet setting for the historic site.