TILBURY Fort will be brought to life with the sights and sounds of a Napoleonic war camp during a living history weekend on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 June.

It will become home to the 44th East Essex Regiment as they set up camp at the fort for the weekend.

Visitors will be able to wander through the regiment’s encampment, meet and talk to the soldiers and see them prepare for the impending Battle of Waterloo.

Dressed in full re-enactment attire, visitors will also get to see the group take part in training and practice musket firing.

Property Manager for English Heritage at Tilbury Fort, Dan Collard, said: “Tilbury Fort will be brought to life during our 44th at the Fort event. Welcoming the 44th East Essex Regiment to Tilbury is always a great honour and we’re really looking forward to hosting a weekend of living history, when visitors will be able to find out more about the Napoleonic war.”

The 44th Essex Regiment is a living history and re-enactment group which represents one of the famous British Army Regiments of the early 19th Century.

In addition to meeting the group, visitors will also be able to explore Tilbury Fort, a site which has protected London’s seaward approach from the 16th century through to the Second World War, and has more recently acted as the backdrop to the BBC One series, Taboo.

Henry VIII built the first fort at Tilbury and Queen Elizabeth I famously rallied her army nearby to face the threat of the Armada.

The present fort is one of the best examples of its type in England, with its circuit of moats and bastioned outworks.

Today visitors can explore the magazine houses used to store vast quantities of gunpowder or enter the bastion magazine passages and feel what it was like for the soldiers who lived there.

The 44th at the Fort event takes place on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 June from 11am-4pm.

For more information about the event, visit: www.english-heritage.org.uk/tilburyfort.