The Maunsell Forts are towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were operated as army and navy forts, and named for their designer, Guy Maunsell. The forts were decommissioned during the late 1950s and later used for other activities including pirate radio broadcasting. One of the forts is managed by the unrecognised Principality of Sealand; boats visit the remaining forts occasionally, and a consortium named Project Redsands is planning to conserve the fort situated at Red Sands. The aesthetic attraction of the Maunsell forts has been considered to be associated with the aesthetics of decay, transience and nostalgia.
"Navy" style fort
"Army" style fort
Army fort in active service.
The remains of Nore Army Fort.
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
The half of the estuary that lies east of its narrow Tideway-named part, by the Operational Land Imager
London Stone, Yantlet Creek
Wind farms in the estuary, in this case the London Array.
The Blackwater Estuary, on the Essex coast, in the northern part of the Greater Thames Estuary. Mersea Island is on the right.
