History of the Ramparts
Earthen ramparts constructed as part of Gosport Lines (the defences of Portsmouth Harbour and the Royal Dockyard) to form Priddy’s Hard Fort. In 1776 the Ordnance Board and the First Lord of the Admiralty decided to relocate gunpowder storage from the Square Tower, Portsmouth, to Priddy’s Hard, where the ramparts served as a blast wall to protect the surrounding area from the occasional accidental explosions which in Portsmouth had been the cause of great loss …