Solent Forts To Become Hotel And Museum

The company which bought Spitbank Fort in the Solent and turned it into a luxury venue for events has now bought two other forts nearby.

The larger No Man's Land and Horse Sand forts are listed as ancient monuments, and will join their smaller brother Spitbank Fort on Clarenco's property portfolio.

Spitbank was bought in 2009 and has recently undergone a £3m restoration.

See the transformation here: http://www.clarenco.com/venues/spitbank-fort/

No Man's Land Fort is over 35,000 sq ft - three times the size of Spitbank Fort, and was converted into a luxury hotel in the 1990's. Working with English Heritage, Clarenco say they will carefully restore it to its former glory with plans to develop 30 bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, games & billiards room and several meeting and dining spaces. Planning has been approved for a helipad and a marina/harbour area.

Horse Sand Fort was built between 1865 and 1880 to defend Portsmouth from the French and is almost an exact replica of No Man's Land Fort, with multiple floors fully armour plated with 15 ft thick walls all round.

It will be turned into a unique time capsule museum showcasing the artefacts and history of the three forts.   

Mike Clare, owner and founder of Clarenco says:

"Having recently invested over £3 million transforming Spitbank Fort into an exclusive venue we felt we couldn't miss the exciting and rare opportunity to add both No Man's Land and Horse Sand Fort to our diverse portfolio of amazing retreats.

"The three forts will complement each other perfectly and offer something magical and unique that other venues can only dream of.

"Solent Forts will create employment in the local area, generate an increase in tourism and will really put the Solent and the surrounding areas on the UK tourism map."

All three forts are situated in the Solent between Portsmouth Harbour and Seaview on the Isle of Wight. Guests will reach the Solent Forts by Clarenco's own flotilla of boats from the Royal Clarence Marina in Gosport.