Newhaven: Fort re-creates horror of the trenches

The Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex is to open the latest phase in the 1.2 million restoration and revamp of the award-winning Fort.

It includes an interactive World War One exhibition housed in officers quarters which have been restored to their original 19th Ccentury design.

Fort manager Ian Everest said: 'The display takes in all aspects of the war from the political unrest in Europe that caused it, the nightmare conditions in the trenches, the evocative words of the war poets and the recognition of shell-shock as a medical condition.'

The Battle of the Somme began in July 85 years ago. The bombardment of the German trenches could be heard in Sussex and Kent.

In the first hour there were 30,000 British and Commonwealth casualties and by nightfall, more than 57,000 had been killed or wounded.

The new exhibit will include a re-creation of a trench complete with the sights, sounds and smells the soldiers would have experienced.

A professional artist has been drafted in to create a convincing Somme backdrop and specialist model makers have been employed to create realistic mannequins of soldiers for an evocative display which will include authentic First World War relics.

To coincide with the 85th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, the project was part funded by a European Interreg partnership between Newhaven Fort and the Muse des Abris, Albert, in the Somme region of France. This has included the loan of pieces from the Muse s collection such as German and British helmets, ammunition shells and barbed wire.

Restoration of the Fort s officers quarters has been funded through grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Single Regeneration Budget, European Interreg II Programme, Lewes District Council and Newhaven Town Council.

The Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, Phyllida Stewart-Roberts, will perform the opening ceremony on July 10 at 2.30pm.

Published: 21.6.01 Sussex Newspapers Ltd