Fort Paull: Caravan park plans for site of medieval fortress

Plans to turn the site of a medieval fortress into a caravan park are being considered by a council.

Fort Paull, a gun battery and fort established by Henry VIII, was a museum of military aircraft and vehicles before its closure in January 2020.

It was sold seven months later and new owner Brian Rushworth is proposing to put 64 pitches on parts of the site.

A planning application was submitted on 30 April and is pending consideration by East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Proposals for the Grade II listed structure, on the north bank of the Humber Estuary, include retaining the site's existing cafe and bar, located in a vintage train carriage, with caravan pitches inside the fort complex.

Details of the scheme, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), show parts of the museum and heritage centre being brought back into use if plans are approved, and the site could be opened to the public.

A holiday park would help to generate the income needed to afford an ongoing 24-hour security presence, which would deter vandalism, the developer said.

The museum was forced to close after a staff member's bereavement and the retirement of another.

Following its sale, much of its collection - including RAF aircraft, deactivated weapons and a royal waxwork - was sold at auction in September.

Its biggest seller was the last surviving Blackburn Beverley Transporter Aircraft at £21,000. While a pair of George III cannons fetched £17,000.

Fort Paull was built in 1861 to defend the approach to the port at Kingston-upon-Hull and was one of 10 erected in the north east. They were collectively known as 'Palmerston Forts' after sitting Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.

Fortifications have existed on the site, also known as the Paull Point Battery, since the reign of Henry VIII when an emplacement with 12 guns was built in 1542.

It was also a strategic base for Charles I during the English Civil War and was used as an ammunition store during World War Two.

The Ministry of Defence sold the site in 1960 and the Friends of Fort Paull group took it on four years later and restored it for the public.

It opened as a museum in 2000, looking at the past 500 years of conflict, complete with exhibits and aircraft displays.

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