GOING UNDER THE HAMMER - IDEAL PROPERTY FOR ENTERPRISING BIRDER

                                                                     

In need of tender, loving care - the fort

A PROPERTY just 1.8 miles from birding hotspot Spurn Point is up for grabs.

Who knows what rare migrants will have briefly stopped off - and gone unrecorded - on the Bull Sand Fort in the Humber Estuary?

It goes under the hammer as Lot 107 at on online auction being conducted by Savills next Tuesday July 19.

Says the company: “The fort can only be accessed by private boat and helicopter. 

“With an imaginative buyer and the right planning consents, it could be refurbished and transformed for a number of uses such as a high end hotel, restaurant, Airbnb, grand design-style personal dwelling, retreat or a tourist attraction.”

The property was constructed between 1915-1919 following the outbreak of World War 1, though  the works were not fully completed until after the war had ended.

It is reinforced by concrete and its seaward side is fitted out with 12-inches of armour designed to withstand gunfire from heavy naval units. 

During World War 2 it was armed, besides the usual small and rapid-fire weapons, by two 6 inch guns and two 6-pounder guns. It had sufficient accommodation for a garrison of 200 men.

Bull Sand Fort, with its smaller companion fort on Haile Sand, 3.75 kilometres to the south-west, guarded the approaches to the Humber with gun batteries and an anti-submarine net of steel mesh stretched between them across the mouth of the estuary.

The fort includes three floors with basement and magazine below sea level, and central two- storey observation tower. 

Fresh water supply is available at the fort via an artesian well. Externally there is a balcony and jetty.

The fort was decommissioned in 1956 and is in need of refurbishment throughout.

The guide price is a modest £50,000.