13 Mobilisation Centres were built between 1889 and 1903 as part of the London Defence Scheme. These were not planned as forts although some of them would have been armed on mobilisation. Their main function was as a store for guns, small arms ammunition, tools and other equipment required for the batteries and infantry allocated for the defence of the neighbourhood in the event of a foreign invasion. The casemates could also be used as barrack accommodation. The North Weald Redoubt was the first of the mobilisation centres to be constructed and the only fortified centre north of the Thames.
When the London Defence Scheme was abandoned in 1906, the Redoubt was retained as an ammunition store. In World War I the line of the London Defence Positions was reactivated as the inner stop line to resist a German invasion.
During World War II, because of the importance of the nearby radio station, it was classed as a Vulnerable Point. Special VP Troops were stationed there to protect it and two Allen Williams Turrets were installed, one on each flank. One former cartridge magazine was used as a dressing station, a faded red cross and the words 'First Aid' can be made out on the wail of the former shifting lobby.
The former radio station buildings were demolished after a fire in 1997 leaving the Redoubt and ancillary buildings standing.
