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GRO Rodborough Fort IMG 1371
What: Historic Gothic building with castellations
Where: GL5 5BLĀ  Situated on Rodborough Common
Then: Originally called Fort George, this was built by George Hawker in 1761 and re-built in 1869-74
Now: The house is privately owned

Rodborough Fort was built on an enclosure taken out of Rodborough Common, not as a country house but as an inhabited folly. It was a single-storey five bay building, with a canted bay in the middle and a bastion on which stood a battery of cannon. The fort was owned by a succession of prominent Stroud businessmen, including (1802-42) Joseph Grazebrook, before being bought in 1868 by Alexander Halcombe. He employed the Gloucester architect, A.W. Maberly, to rebuild it in 1869-74, as a rock-faced battlemented Tudor house with a tower over the entrance. Although Maberly retained castellations to justify its name, the house lost its pretty, whimsical air at this time. The house is surrounded by a quasi-defensive wall with gateways. In the early 20th c it was a guest house and restaurant run by the Tuck family.

From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local History Society

Revised 2018 EMW