Museum · near Portsmouth · Hampshire

Fort Nelson

Fort Nelson is a grade I listed military museum. On the map, it sits 600 m northwest of Portsmouth. Add HMS Victory, 6.9 km away, to a visit; it leads 84 places within 15 km.

Photo: Fort Nelson, en:User:Geni (CC BY 2.5)

Where

600 m

northwest of Portsmouth

How well known

Top 35%

#2,958 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

May–Sep

highs of 18–23°C

In brief

Museum near Portsmouth

Just outside Portsmouth

Fort Nelson is 600 m northwest of Portsmouth. Towns near it ↓

Scheduled monument

On the official list of protected heritage; Portsmouth has 490 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Warm months and wet ones

In Portsmouth the warm season is May to September, with highs of 18–23°C.

Jan9° / 3°86 mm

Feb9° / 3°60 mm

Mar12° / 4°50 mm

Apr15° / 6°53 mm

May18° / 8°43 mm

Jun21° / 11°50 mm

Jul23° / 13°46 mm

Aug23° / 13°60 mm

Sep20° / 11°58 mm

Oct16° / 9°88 mm

Nov12° / 6°90 mm

Dec10° / 3°89 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Portsmouth, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Portsmouth. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Portsmouth’s full climate →

About

Fort Nelson

2 Wikipedia editions have an article on it.

Portsmouth’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Museum
Listed: Scheduled monument
Wikipedias: Covered in 2 languages
Town: 600 m northwest of Portsmouth
Official site: royalarmouries.org/visit-us/fort-nelson

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Plan your visit

Practical details

Entrance feesFreeNo entrance fee.

Hours and entry: OpenStreetMap contributors. They change through the year: check its site before you go.

The map

Fort Nelson at a glance

Spot Fort Nelson in orange, then follow the numbers to the places below.

Towns near it

Staying near Fort Nelson

With 223,324 people, Portsmouth is the largest of the 7. Nearest first, every town here counts it among its places to visit.

1 · 600 m southeast of it

Portsmouth

223,324 people · 64 places to visit

2 · 1 km west of it

Fareham

42,633 people · 20 places to visit

3 · 1.9 km northeast of it

Southwick

703 people · 9 places to visit

4 · 2.8 km north of it

North Boarhunt

842 people · 7 places to visit

Compare the 7 towns

Town	Where Fort Nelson is	People	Places to visit
Portsmouth	600 m southeast of it	223,324	64
Fareham	1 km west of it	42,633	20
Southwick	1.9 km northeast of it	703	9
North Boarhunt	2.8 km north of it	842	7
Gosport	3.1 km south of it	70,120	57
Knowle	4.8 km northwest of it	1,487	6
Wickham	4.8 km northwest of it	2,170	7

Make a day of it

Pair Fort Nelson with these

Around it, within 15 km, lie 84 more, including 2 historic ships, 2 castles and 2 cathedrals.

Historic shipHMS Victory6.9 km away 2

MuseumMary Rose7.2 km away 3

Castle · English HeritagePortchester Castle3.1 km away 4

Historic shipHMS Warrior7.3 km away 5

AttractionSpinnaker Tower7.6 km away 6

CathedralPortsmouth Cathedral8.2 km away 7

CathedralCathedral of St John the Evangelist7.4 km away 8

CastleSouthsea Castle9.9 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Visiting Fort Nelson: the answers

Where is Fort Nelson?

Fort Nelson is 600 m northwest of Portsmouth, Hampshire.

What is Fort Nelson?

Grade I listed military museum in Hampshire, England, UK.

When is the best time to visit Fort Nelson?

May to September are the warmest months in Portsmouth, with afternoon highs of 18–23°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Fort Nelson a listed building?

Yes: scheduled monument.

What else is there to see near Fort Nelson?

Within 15 km: HMS Victory (6.9 km), Mary Rose (7.2 km), Portchester Castle (3.1 km) and HMS Warrior (7.3 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

Fort Nelson: en:User:Geni, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
HMS Victory: David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Mary Rose: Mary Rose Trust, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Portchester Castle: Matthew Folley from UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
HMS Warrior: geni, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Spinnaker Tower: Chris Downer, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Portsmouth Cathedral: JohnArmagh, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Cathedral of St John the Evangelist: JohnArmagh, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Southsea Castle: Geni, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.