First Two of the New Decade - Thread - Urban Exploration Resource

It's fair to say I've had an absolutely dreadful month for various reasons however I was finally able to get myself out and about right at the end of it to do my first explores of 2020.

This fortification was somewhere I had wanted to see for years however for reasons unknown to me I had always assumed it was a lot further away than it actually was. It was built in 1889 as part of a string of defences along the River Thames east of London. The original defence scheme was abandoned in 1906 and it was used as an ammunition store until the advent of the First World War where the line was brought back into use. In 1920 it was bought by a communications company and the site housed a government radio/communication station, it then passed through a string of other communication companies before being sold in 1995 to a developer who has done nothing with it at all.

Half of the fort is flooded almost year-round thanks to the drainage being totally blocked by vegetation and fallen branches.

1

A short drive away from the fort is a long-abandoned church. The oldest parts of the church date from the 1300s, with other portions dating from the 1500s. It once had a belltower which was constructed in the late 1500s, however it was pulled down in the early 1950s which is presumably when the church was abandoned due to the severe subsidence evident both inside the church and in the graveyard beside it - the belltower was likely pulled down to stop it collapsing.

It's probably the oldest building I've ever explored, which was nice. The UK is littered with small medieval churches which are usually in remote locations and now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust however this one is in such poor structural condition they probably took one look at it and thought there is nothing they can do to help it, as one day it will simply collapse in on itself.

16

Thanks for looking