 The remnants of the fort are still visible and have been incorporated into a coastal park.The fort was constructed in response to a naval arms race between Britain and France.Britain's coastal defences had not been substantially upgraded since the Napoleonic Wars, but a new generation of accurate and powerful guns, mounted on fast-moving, manoeuvrable iron-clad warships, had obsoleted the existing 18th and early 19th century forts along the British coastline.