Scoveston Fort
(SM 944066) Scoveston Fort was built in the 1860s as one of the chain of forts protecting both the Royal Naval Dockyard at Pembroke Dock and also the reserve fleet anchorage. Built on a mound commanding panoramic views of the countryside, it was the only landward fort in an intended chain to be constructed.
It was designed to hold a garrison of 128 men and a complement of 32 guns, but it was never garrisoned on a permanent basis and was mainly used as a training camp for Volunteers and Militia. The road from the fort to Neyland via Mastlebridge was known as Military Road and is still lined in places by the old military fences.
In the First World War the fort was the centre of a military training camp and a complex system of trenches was dug in the surrounding fields, again to help defend the Dockyard from land-based attack. This trench system ran all the way from Waterston via Scoveston to Port Lion, Llangwm.
Soldier training with a wooden mock-up of a Vickers machine gun at Scoveston
In the Second World War the fort was used by the people of Neyland as an unofficial air raid shelter. Later it was used to store munitions in readiness for D-Day. The fort has been derelict for many years and is now dangerous and inaccessible. However the overgrown earthwork perimeter of the hexagonal fort can be viewed from the nearby road.
Interior view of Scoveston Fort
