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Fort Widley is one of the forts built on top of Portsdown Hill between 1860 and 1868 on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom. It was designed, along with the other Palmerston Forts atop Portsdown, to protect Portsmouth from attack from the rear.
Armament was fitted into three different categories - the main armament which was mounted on a semi-circular rampart, high angle armament provided by 13-inch mortars, mounted in two protected mortar batteries and close range armament, mounted in one full and two demi-caponiers.
Barracks accommodation was also provided for both officers and other ranks.
In First World War it was used as a transit depot. During the Second World War it was modified to provide more accommodation. It was then used by a number of units before housing members of the Royal Corps of Signals and Auxiliary Territorial Service supporting the navy command at Fort Southwick. In 1952 the fort became home to a bomb disposal squadron and a year later an emergency civil control centre for Portsmouth was constructed in the fort's magazine.
The fort was leased to Portsmouth City Council (then the Portsmouth Corporation) in 1961 and was sold outright to the council in 1972. In 1990 the Fort was taken into use as an activity centre for the Peter Ashley charity, providing a number of activities, including an equestrian centre.
In September 2010 the fort was used to host a search and rescue exercise based around a simulated earthquake. Titled Exercise Orion, the event involved teams from seven countries dealing with 35 scenarios over 2 days.
Both the Fort and a gun in front of it have been designated , at Grades II* and II respectively.
In 2018, the fort was used as a setting for the Hollywood film The Last Vermeer.
Today the Fort is home to an equestrian centre run by Peter Ashley Activity Centres.
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