Island Fort

Pretty cheap, but whoever buys it is going to need a shed load of money to renovate it to grade 2* standards.

Intriguing proposition though!
 
yeah i was being modest with the "bit of work" part
 
It's an interesting proposition as a conference centre or boutique hotel, that'd cost a fair wedge though.

An interesting development for someone not needing a quick return on their cash.
 
Trouble with the location is that you have the huge refinery in view to the right, there's also a large caravan site by the beach.
 
Commute to Bristol would be a menace, unfortunately :( Also, I bet the broadband is rubbish!
 
onomatopoeia said:
Commute to Bristol would be a menace, unfortunately :( Also, I bet the broadband is rubbish!
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im sure if you could afford to do it up well you could sort out the broadband easily, enough room for a helicopter :)
 
Apparently it's well persevered...
 
looking at the pictures it doesnt look too bad
 
Initial budget to convert it by previous owners was £4 000 000.
 
Gaz J said:
Initial budget to convert it by previous owners was £4 000 000.
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Well that's nonsense.
There's on way you need to chuck 4 m at it.
You could, but you don't need to.
 
The highest cost I would have thought would be getting the materials over there, i'd love to know what they were going to spend 4 million on though
 
Bluekwack said:
The highest cost I would have thought would be getting the materials over there, i'd love to know what they were going to spend 4 million on though
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It was probably the salesman's quote from Ultraframe :LOL:
 
Bluekwack said:
Personal experience?
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Ha ha yeah. A few years ago when we were pricing up for new windows, doors, roofline etc I let them in to get a quote. :rolleyes: (against my better judgement tbh as I knew what they were like)

In the end I had to kick the salesman out after nearly 3 hrs. :bat:
 
I had the same experience with Safe style UK when I lived in Manchester, 2 up 2 down terrace with only 6 big windows an a front door, his words were if you lived in London you would be paying 15 grand for these Windows, couldn't get rid of him for hours either
 
OldCarlos said:
Ha ha yeah. A few years ago when we were pricing up for new windows, doors, roofline etc I let them in to get a quote. :rolleyes: (against my better judgement tbh as I knew what they were like)

In the end I had to kick the salesman out after nearly 3 hrs. :bat:
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I threatened to call the police if the Everest salesman didn't leave.
 
Thorne Island is close by for me, and I've often walked on the coastline adjacent to it. Apparently in the 80s it was run as a pub / hotel, but I don't know anyone locally that visited it.

The current owner is believed to have bought it a couple of years ago on a whim for £750,000, which if true means he is taking at least a £200k hit.

As a business proposition it is pretty hopeless. It is in very remote location, and the little jetty is going to make the journey for visitors interesting at the best of times, and impossible for large parts of the time. Its position at the mouth of the Haven is pretty rough and choppy. It would be easy to spend £4 million on it - you could budget half of that for a helicopter and helipad - the only way to realistically turn it into a viable commercial venture. More realistically it will probably be bought by an eccentric recluse with a passion for oil tanker spotting.

I'd love a look around though. The post-Napoleonic forts around Pembrokeshire are fascinating. I'm currently trying to blag access to nearby Scoverston Fort, (land based not sea) which is one of the biggest in the UK, but is now practically invisible from both land and air due to being hugely overgrown.
 
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DeadpanDodo said:
It would be easy to spend £4 million on it - you could budget half of that for a helicopter and helipad - the only way to realistically turn it into a viable commercial venture.
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Commercial venture? sod that, win lottery, add machine guns to the turrets to keep the peasants out, sorted :thumbs:

:D
 
That's the 4M spent then - backhanders for being allowed a battery of fully automatic weapons!!!
 
Nod said:
That's the 4M spent then - backhanders for being allowed a battery of fully automatic weapons!!!
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I could live with master bow men I suppose, less noise when I'm trying to lay in on a Sunday :thumbs:
 
Could do with a few of those
 
I reckon a bit of duct tape wrapping on the bottles would see them take 300psi and punch the arrows through an inch of oak! (Well, maybe not properly seasoned oak...)
 
Any planning considerations? Solar panels on the roof, wind turbine. Wonder what the landing stage is like?

Reading more:
After going on the market in 2011, the island was bought by businessman James Gardner, of Kent Mushrooms, for £750,000.
Mr Gardner, who collects forts, said: “I bought it on a whim a few years ago. It’s now surplus to requirements.
“It was in a reasonable condition when I bought it and it’s exactly as it was. “My intention was to use a charter helicopter company to access the island. But it needs a helicopter with two engines and there wasn’t a charter company in Pembrokeshire with two.” “It’s a magical place and the scale of it is mindboggling.”

A caretaker currently visits the island once a week to keep it in check.

The fortress is powered by two diesel generators that are in need of replacement, according to Mr Gardner.
 
Byker28i said:
Any planning considerations? Solar panels on the roof, wind turbine. Wonder what the landing stage is like?

Reading more:
After going on the market in 2011, the island was bought by businessman James Gardner, of Kent Mushrooms, for £750,000.
Mr Gardner, who collects forts, said: “I bought it on a whim a few years ago. It’s now surplus to requirements.
“It was in a reasonable condition when I bought it and it’s exactly as it was. “My intention was to use a charter helicopter company to access the island. But it needs a helicopter with two engines and there wasn’t a charter company in Pembrokeshire with two.” “It’s a magical place and the scale of it is mindboggling.”

A caretaker currently visits the island once a week to keep it in check.

The fortress is powered by two diesel generators that are in need of replacement, according to Mr Gardner.
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Collecting forts - now that's a hobby!
 
According to Wikipedia
The fort was converted into a hotel in 1947 and was sold in 1999 for £275,000.[4] In 2001 it was owned by the Von Essen hotel group who intended spending four million pounds to reopen the hotel with a five star rating and a cable car to allow access from the mainland. In 2001 a competition was successfully held to find a family who would serve as caretakers for a year.[5] In 2011 the island is up for sale again with a price tag now of £750,000.[6] The island was finally sold in November 2011 for 'significantly less' than the guide price [7]

So the 4 million was for a 5 star hotel, cable car etc.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...island-complete-castle-goes-sale-750-000.html
 
Grade 2 listed could have some implications...
Large water reservoir tanks for capturing rainfall, currently 2 generators for power, both need attention. So does that mean no mainsland power or chance to run internet other than point to point wifi to the mainland?
Hum so I just need to win £1-2m on the lottery



Location
Off N headland of West Angle Bay.

History
Commenced in 1852 and completed in 1854, Thorne Island fort was intended as an outer defence to Milford Haven in conjunction with Dale Point. It was designed for a garrison of 100 men. Its battery initially consisted of 9 ML guns. The fort was purchased at auction in 1932 for conversion to a hotel and after one change of ownership it it still a hotel.

Interior

Exterior
The battery occupies the highest ground at the W, behind a low papapet. To the rear is a parade ground about 5 m below the level of the battery, surrounded to the N, E and S by vaulted single-storey barracks and ancillary buildings. Water reservoirs beneath the parade ground for 30,000 gallons. The N range consisted of a cookhouse and officers' quarters. The E range consisted of other ranks' barracks, but with the entrance to the fort and guardroom at the centre. The guardroom occupied a small bastion. More officers' quarters in the S range. At the W of the S range was an armoury, protected by a solid half-round bastion built out from the exterior wall. These barracks ranges have fine brickwork groin vaulting.
The barracks ranges are flat roofed with access to an E and S facing parapet with apertures for small arms fire. A bridge gives access over a gap between the S and E ranges.
Limestone ashlar masonry generally with emphasised quoins. Large shallow string course of squared section at base of parapet. [Exterior windows not original.] Entrance at E with voussoir-arch including projecting keystone. Lettering on the arch. Side pilaster at entrance, with simple cornice. Reinforced outer entrance doors approx. 12 cm thick, running on floor-track. Inner entrance doors missing, also ran on floor-track.
Hammer-faced ashlar to front of barracks ranges facing the parade ground. Large shallow squared cornice with quarter-round moulding beneath. Six-pane sash windows. Granite staircases up to battery.

Reason for Listing
Listed as a well-preserved fort of Palmerston's Haven defences.

References
Country Life 16.9.1976 p.734
Lecture notes ex. Roger J C Thomas (D.A.T.)
Dyfed Arch. Trust: S&M PRN 20602
 
Not just Grade 2...Grade 2*
There will certainly be rules to be followed.
 
viv1969 said:
Not just Grade 2...Grade 2*
There will certainly be rules to be followed.
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I guess tearing it down and starting again would be out the question in that case?
 
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