Fort Gilkicker Gunnery Practice, Circa 1890 which shows Fort Gilkicker in its original condition before the earth bank was built around the Granite outer wall and the series of changes leading up to those in World War 2 were installed. On the roof of the fort can be seen 5 guns. The two on the ends nearest the back of the fort are 12” and the remaining three are 11”. Those guns inside the fort (battery) are 9” & 11”. All are Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. The lower guns behind the Granite wall are protected further by metal shields over the openings for the gun to fire through. This left just a small aperture with a hatch in the metal shield to fire through. This view shows that a bank did exist to protect the lower part of the front wall but as can be seen, was much lower than the one of today. It is probable that when the earth bank was enlarged in 1906 to cover the front wall, this bank was enlarged. The gully between the front wall and the small bank can be seen in this painting and today it still exists as there is a cavity between the front wall and the earth bank. This can only be seen by looking through the gun ports from inside the fort. The top of the gully has been enclosed and earthed over to produce the completed bank. The fort was originally under construction in 1863 by a contractor who quickly became bankrupt and as such the job was completed over the next 6 years by Mr Leather who had overseen the construction of the forts in in the Solent at Spithead. His extensive building site was already in operation for the task of building the Solent forts further back along Stokes Bay near the where the Inshore Rescue building is today. The warship in the background on its way into Portsmouth Harbour is HMS Royal Sovereign.