Fort Tourgis, Victorian military fort in Alderney, Channel Islands

Fort Tourgis is a Victorian fortification northwest of St Anne, Alderney, completed in 1855 to house 346 men and planned for 33 heavy cannon in five batteries plus four 13-inch mortars. Its citadel holds the barrack block and main magazine, with two small gun batteries and three seaward batteries separated by ditches and drawbridges.

Fort Tourgis was completed in 1855, designed for a garrison of 346 men and 33 heavy cannon in five batteries plus four 13-inch mortars, as part of Alderney's Victorian defences against French naval power. From July 1940 German forces occupied Alderney and turned the fort into Stützpunkt Türkenburg, adding a 20 mm Flak battery, two 10.5 cm beach defence guns and two 7.5 cm Pak guns.

The fort's name survives in German form as Stützpunkt Türkenburg, or Strongpoint Turk's Castle, the designation given under the occupation from July 1940. Volunteers of the Living Islands Project, supported by the States Works department, cleared scrub and consolidated masonry, and part of the northern defences is now open to the public. Kestrels nest in the musketry loops of the eastern wall, and barn swallows often nest in the German tunnel.

You can explore portions of the fort on lower levels, but bring a torch since underground sections have limited lighting. Wear sturdy shoes because the terrain is uneven and some areas can be muddy.

The German tunnel passes under the Victorian wall and enters the fort through the former magazine of Cambridge Battery, giving a shorter route toward Platte Saline. Barn swallows often nest inside it, and the Bloxworth snout moth, a UK rarity, has been recorded in these concrete spaces.