Perhaps one of the most depressing areas to ever walk through but alas not many will get the chance to now as the estate has been brought by propety developers and will be turned into high grade expensive housing, I just hope they know what they are getting themselves into.

Golden Hill Fort was one of the 140 forts built to outwit and defeat the French.Built between 1862 and 1871 and located near Freshwater, a mile inland it would have been a gem in fighting the French who would have perhaps never seen it until it was too late. However this fort never fired a single shot in anger, the French were defeated before iteven had the chance to become active.

Though it was used as a barracks, the Western District School of Gunnery, an army depot, an industrial estate and finally, until driven out by degradation and damp, a museum and tearooms.

At the time Golden Hill Fort was built, British barracks had a reputation for poor sanitation and ventilation. The death toll among soldiers living in barracks was twice that for the civilian population. The ghosts that haunt these sad premises are often seen, heard and smelled. The ghost of a sailor who was hung for trying to sell war secrets has been seen here as has a uniformed WW1 sergeant major who was hated by all his men and 'accidentally' fell down one of the forts concrete spiral staircases and broke his neck. Locked doors open of their own accord and the smell of long gone pipe smoke is often smelt and there is always that feeling that you are never alone whilst walking through the forts winding corridoors, rooms and staircases.