monitoring station. External facilities The fort was linked to a jetty, Coalhouse Wharf, on the riverside a short distance to the south. A standard gauge railway track led from the fort's interior to the jetty and was used to bring guns and supplies from the wharf. The heaviest guns were transported to and from Coalhouse Fort (and other Thames forts) aboard two specialised gun barges called Gog and Magog, built in 1886 and 1900 respectively and used until the 1960s. The remains of the jetty are still visible, as are sections of the track within the fort's entrance. A two-storey concrete structure just north of the fort was used during the Second World War as an Extended Defence Officer's Post to control the minefield outside the fort. It could also serve as a pillbox. A corresponding post stood on the Kent shore. A small concrete structure a further north-east of the fort may have been an electrical power house. The minefield was overlooked by a hexagonal radar tower about south of the fort, consisting of a concrete structure on a metal frame on which the radar array was mounted. This stands atop a brick building in which the power plant, electrical equipment radar screen and personnel accommodation were located. It was only used for a short time between 1941 and 1943 and is now considered structurally unsafe. Situated nearby is the detached battery built in 1893 to mount four 6-pdr. quick-firing guns. It is well-preserved and the emplacements, ready-use lockers and magazines are all still largely intact. Current status After being decommissioned, Coalhouse Fort was leased and used as a storage facility by Bata Shoes, which operated the nearby Bata shoe factory in East Tilbury. It was also used for a while for emergency housing for demobilised servicemen and their families. In 1959, the parade ground was used as a coal store during a miners' strike. Thurrock Urban District Council (now Thurrock Council) purchased the fort in 1962 and still own it. The council turned the area around the fort into a riverside park but the building itself decayed badly through neglect and vandalism. Coalhouse Fort and the adjacent artillery defences to the south of the fort were collectively designated as a scheduled monument in 1962, in recognition of their status as "a remarkable group of defensive sites". The fort was leased to the Coalhouse Fort Project, a heritage charity