Underrated Hidden Gems in Kent
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The underrated hidden gems in Kent are Fort Amherst Heritage Trust, The Bishop's Palace, Grain Tower Battery, Cliffe Fort, Slough Fort, Pipe Pool Mound, Greatstone Sound Mirrors and Fort Burgoyne.
Kent is a county most people think they know, all cathedral towns, white cliffs and orchards, yet a good deal of its most rewarding history sits quietly out of the way. Along the Medway and the Thames marshes, on windswept shingle near Dungeness and up on the heights above Dover, there is a run of forts, ruins and curious structures that far fewer visitors ever reach.
Places like Fort Amherst, with its tunnels cut into the chalk, the ruined Bishop's Palace at Halling, and the tide-cut Grain Tower Battery reward anyone willing to seek them out. Others, such as Cliffe Fort, Slough Fort and Fort Burgoyne, are only partly open or shown on occasional days, which is part of what keeps them overlooked.
Add the wading birds of Cliffe Pools and the strange concrete sound mirrors at Greatstone, and you have a side of Kent that repays a little effort and curiosity. Here are eight underrated hidden gems to seek out in Kent.
Fort Amherst Heritage Trust
Photo: Marathon via Geograph.org.uk
Fort Amherst Heritage Trust is a large Napoleonic-era fortress standing high above the old dockyard and the River Medway at Chatham. Begun in the 1750s and much strengthened during the wars with France, it holds ramparts, gun batteries and deep ditches, along with a network of tunnels cut into the chalk that once served as magazines and stores.
A heritage trust runs it today as a visitor attraction, with guided tunnel tours and events through the year, and it looks out over the historic dockyard below. For all its scale it slips under the radar of most Kent itineraries, which makes it well worth seeking out.
The Bishop's Palace
Photo: Dylan Moore via Geograph.org.uk
The Bishop's Palace A grand house stood on this riverside spot from the eleventh century, home to the bishops of Rochester and rebuilt over the following centuries, before most of it came down and the land was turned to other uses. What remains is chiefly the tall western wall of the great hall, several metres high with three Gothic windows, the rest reduced to low walls and buried foundations.
It sits beside the River Medway at the village of Halling in Kent, beside the parish church, now a protected monument freshly conserved. Few outside the village ever notice this calm pause by the water.
Seek it out for the peace.
Grain Tower Battery
Photo: Rob via Geograph.org.uk
Grain Tower Battery is a round granite gun tower standing offshore on a tidal sandbank at the mouth of the Medway, off the Isle of Grain. Built between 1848 and 1855 to defend the naval dockyards, it was heavily rebuilt in the Second World War with a concrete gun emplacement, an observation tower and a barrack block.
Today it is a derelict, roofless ruin, seen from the Grain shoreline and reached over a rock and mud causeway at low tide, though the sea cuts it off at high water. Time your visit to the tide and it rewards you with one of Kent's more atmospheric overlooked ruins.
Cliffe Fort
Photo: Robin Webster via Geograph.org.uk
Cliffe Fort is a derelict Victorian artillery fort out on the Thames marshes at Cliffe. Built in the 1860s to guard the river, it now stands fenced off and part-flooded, its casemates crumbling among the sand piles of a working aggregates wharf.
The outer walls can be passed on the Saxon Shore Way, so you can take it in from the path even though the fort itself is closed. Beside it lie the remains of an early launcher for the Brennan torpedo and the wreck of an old sailing ship half-sunk in the mud.
It is a haunting, half-forgotten corner of the marshes, best sought out on foot.
Slough Fort
Photo: David Anstiss via Geograph.org.uk
Slough Fort Heavy guns once trained out over the river here, part of the defences guarding the approaches to the Thames estuary from Allhallows, on Kent's Isle of Grain. The fort is a brick, D-shaped work ringed by a dry moat, with a pair of wing batteries added to its flanks in later years.
These days it stands within a holiday park, looked after by a preservation trust that opens up its gun emplacements, moat and casemates on the occasional open day rather than throughout the year. It is a protected monument, and catching it on one of those days makes for an atmospheric wander through the estuary's old Victorian defences.
Pipe Pool Mound
Photo: David Anstiss via Geograph.org.uk
Pipe Pool Mound sits among the lagoons of the RSPB reserve at Cliffe Pools, on the Hoo Peninsula in the north Kent marshes where the land meets the Thames estuary. Old clay and aggregate workings have left a spread of large saltwater lagoons and freshwater pools, divided by grassy banks and spoil mounds, with a mound beside this pool giving a raised view over the water.
The flat, open landscape of lagoons, saltmarsh and mudflats is one of the best places on the estuary for wading birds, with avocets, godwits and redshank among the flocks, and trails run along the banks between the pools. Seek it out for big skies and busy tides.
Greatstone Sound Mirrors
Photo: Oast House Archive via Geograph.org.uk
Greatstone Sound Mirrors are three great concrete structures standing near Dungeness, built before radar to catch the sound of approaching aircraft out over the Channel. There is a long curved wall and two dish-shaped mirrors, each once fitted with microphones to pick up engine noise far out to sea.
They now stand on an island in a flooded gravel pit on an RSPB reserve, cut off from the shore. The only close access is on occasional guided open days, when a bridge is swung across.
Even from a distance they are a strange, overlooked relic of early air defence, and well worth seeking out on the right day.
Fort Burgoyne
Photo: Chris via Geograph.org.uk
Fort Burgoyne stands on high ground north of Dover Castle, a Victorian fort built in the 1860s as part of the town's defences and once known as Castle Hill Fort. Its earth ramparts, brick bastions and gun positions survive, wrapped around a deep ditch.
A land trust now cares for it and has begun opening parts up, with a restored battery welcoming visitors and wildlife spreading across the surrounding grassland. Much of the main fort is still closed except for events, which keeps it well off the usual Dover trail.
For anyone who times a visit to an open day, it is a quietly rewarding find above the town.
FAQs
Are Kent's hidden gem forts open to visitors?
It varies. Fort Amherst runs as a visitor attraction with guided tunnel tours and events, while Slough Fort and Fort Burgoyne open only on occasional days or for events. Cliffe Fort is fenced off, though its walls can be passed on the Saxon Shore Way.
When is the best time to visit Grain Tower Battery?
Grain Tower Battery sits on a tidal sandbank and is reached over a rock and mud causeway at low tide. It is cut off by the sea at high water, so check the tide times carefully before walking out.
Where can I see wading birds in north Kent?
Head for the RSPB reserve at Cliffe Pools on the Hoo Peninsula. Its lagoons and mudflats draw avocets, godwits and redshank, and trails run along the banks between the pools, with a mound beside Pipe Pool giving a raised view.
Conclusion
What ties these Kent gems together is that they ask a little of the visitor and give a great deal back. Several are forts, from Fort Amherst and Grain Tower Battery to Cliffe Fort, Slough Fort and Fort Burgoyne, each guarding the Medway or the Thames and each easy to drive straight past.
Others, like the ruined Bishop's Palace, the bird-rich Pipe Pool at Cliffe Pools and the strange sound mirrors at Greatstone, reward the curious with quiet, atmospheric spots away from the crowds. Remember that many are only partly open, cut off by the tide, or shown on occasional days, so a little planning goes a long way.
Check the tides and any open days before you set out, and you will find that these are the underrated hidden gems to seek out in Kent.
