Fort Amherst’s diverse team of skilled and friendly volunteers keep the Fort running smoothly. If you have time to spare and a skill to share, we’d love to hear from you!
Current roles: Tour Guide; Visitor Welcome; Office Support; General Maintenance; Gardener; Events; Cannon and Ordnance Restoration.
Training is provided to all volunteers, and will include:
01634 847747
or email
volunteers@fortamherst.com
“I work in lots of different areas of the Fort, from maintaining the grounds to helping on our events. I've enjoyed making new friends, it's been great for my mental health and I've enjoyed learning new skills.”
Help our visitors explore over 300 years of history.
Lead tours of up to 25 visitors around the Fort Amherst Tunnels and grounds.
The role requires:
Be the friendly face of Fort Amherst and engage our visitors. The role requires:
Based in our main office, play a vital role in the running of Fort Amherst.
The role requires:
Help preserve Fort Amherst for future generations. Opportunities are varied; you can even gain experience, skills and qualifications.
Do you have ‘green fingers’? Help us to maintain Fort Amherst’s historically significant grounds. Opportunities are varied; you can even gain experience, skills and qualifications. The role requires:
Fort Amherst offers a varied programme of events, and we need to ensure that our
visitors have a high-quality and enjoyable experience. If you are time-flexible, friendly
and prepared to ‘muck in’, please get in touch.
The role requires:
This team has a passion for conserving and restoring a whole range of cannons and
military ordnance for display. We request that you have some aptitude for carpentry,
metalwork repair, use of power tools and good DIY skills – and the desire to learn new
skills, too. We would love to hear from volunteers with conservation techniques.
The role requires:
Fort Amherst’s restoration is due to the dedication of its Trust members and volunteers.
We are actively seeking trustees with a variety of skills to help us with this important work. We welcome you to enquire to find out more.
“Acquiring, restoring, maintaining, safeguarding and preserving the historical fortifications known as Fort Amherst and the Lines in the City of Rochester-Upon Medway and the Borough of Gillingham in the county of Kent, and making the same available for research and for the educational and recreational viewing and use by the public.”
Fort Amherst Heritage Trust owns the freehold of almost the entire site, which is a scheduled ancient monument, designated in 1959 (1003364 - known as Brompton Lines).
Fort Amherst Heritage Trust depends on volunteers to maintain and operate the Fort. The Trust has developed a culture of social responsibility and integration with the local community.
Fort Amherst Heritage Trust was formed in 1998 as a charitable company limited by Guarantee (charity number 1102399, company number 4362306). It succeeded the Fort Amherst & Lines Trust, and in 2010 merged with Medway Historical Ordnance, a separate Charity established to preserve and maintain the Fort’s nationally important collection of historical ordnance.
David Lenehan has been a Fort Amherst Volunteer for over 2 years.
He has helped with many tasks, from grass cutting and grounds work to taking an active role in the monthly Ghost Tours, Paranormal events and successful annual Halloween Horror.
“ Each day is different, from litter picking, emptying bins, cleaning the loos and keeping the site clean and tidy. My other roles include working with our maintenance team, and helping to keep the fabric and structure in good order: all jobs necessary so the general public have a pleasant stay with us.
We have a great and dedicated team of volunteers at the Fort, with back-up from our trustees, general management and supervisors, all of whom are there to advise and assist.
I enjoy my time with the Fort, and get a lot of satisfaction helping to maintain part of our history – as well as keeping active now I’ve retired.
I’m looking forward to many more years helping out!”
As a charity we need your help to protect and maintain Fort Amherst and its Grounds.
Fort Amherst has stood for over 300 years but without ongoing care it would be lost to time and the elements. You can support our valuable conservation work in many ways; you could make a general donation, give in memory or leave a legacy.
Take your place in Fort Amherst’s story by helping to give our heritage a future.
For further information about how to donate, please contact us by emailing
By donating, you can help protect the future of Fort Amherst's heritage. A ventilation system will help to remove the damp which plagues our Tunnels and Buildings. With this in place we will be able to install more collections throughout our buildings and improve the visitor experience for all.
By donating, you’ll be providing vital funds to help us repair and purchase vital equipment for our extensive grounds maintenance
By donating to this important appeal, your donation will help towards funding training courses for the development of our Volunteers and Staff; creating an even better experience for our visitors.
By donating, you’ll be providing funds for us to purchase these vital pieces of equipment to replace our ageingsaws! This will make a huge difference to our maintenance team who work tirelessly to help preserve Fort Amherst for the future.