Fort Crescent + Fort Paragon Margate Kent

Not the Whole of the Moon 

Dr Simon Thurley, former Chief Executive of English Heritage, confirms, “Margate is one of England’s first seaside resorts. Since the early 18th century, people have been visiting the town to bathe in the sea, first for health reasons, but in more recent years for pleasure and a change of scenery. The presence of visitors transformed this once small working coastal town into a playground for some of the wealthiest members of London society. However, as it was located along the Thames away from the capital, Margate has always attracted a wide range of visitors and was selected as the site of the world’s first sea bathing hospital.”

The cliff facing façade of Fort Crescent and the cliff facing flank wall of Fort Paragon are evidence in stucco of Margate’s growing popularity in the early 19th century. Fort Crescent was built in piecemeal form over several decades; the more uniform Fort Paragon was constructed by a local builder Harold Woodward in 1830. Together they bring an air of the Regency, a little piece of Brighton, to Margate.