Milton Blockhouse
Has been described as a Certain Artillery Fort
There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains
| Name | Milton Blockhouse |
| Alternative Names | Mr Cobhams Bulwark; Mylton; the old Blockhouse |
| Historic Country | Kent |
| Modern Authority | Kent |
| 1974 Authority | Kent |
| Civil Parish | Gravesham |
The site of Milton Blockhouse, built by Henry VIII in 1539 as part of his chain of coastal defences to defend against possible French or Spanish invasion. It was one of five blockhouses built along this stretch of the river Thames to defend the approach to London and the dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford; the others being at Tilbury, Higham, East Tilbury and Gravesend. It was probably remodelled in 1545 with the addition of an angle bastion. In 1553 Milton blockhouse was disarmed and in 1557-8 it was demolished. The blockhouse was probably similar to the D-shaped plan of Gravesend and Tilbury blockhouses and would have been armed with thirty guns. However, excavations carried out between 1974-8 by the Kent Defence Research Group uncovered remains of an angle bastion on the landward side, probably flanked by another to the west. Angle bastion design was not introduced in England until the mid 1540s and therefore probably represents a later addition to the fortification. (PastScape)
Excavations were carried out by the Kent Defence Research Group at intervals during 1974-8. The purpose of the excavations was to verify identification and to recover a basic plan which could be compared with the D-shaped Gravesend and Tilbury blockhouses, the plans of which were the only ones previously known of the five Thames blockhouses. The excavations revealed a plan suggesting an angle bastion, presumably flanked by another to the west, of which remains might still exist under Canal Road. The latter concealed the front of the building. The angle bastion design represented in the excavated foundations had not yet appeared in England in 1539/40 and the Milton bastion must be a later addition to the original blockhouse, strengthening the landward side. The original blockhouse, of uncertain plan (but conceivably D-shaped like the Gravesend and Tilbury blockhouses) lies presumably to the front under Canal Road. (PastScape ref. Smith, 1980)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | TQ655742 |
| Latitude | 51.4434814453125 |
| Longitude | 0.380080014467239 |
| Eastings | 565500 |
| Northings | 174290 |
