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The big facts page

179 facts about the Tudor forts, all checked

Every fact on this site in one place, each linked to its source. Our build checks each one against the source text; see the sources page. Where sources disagree you’ll find each one.

Jump to: Henry VIII’s plan | The danger, and before and around the forts | Deal | Walmer and Sandown | Pendennis | St Mawes | Portland | Hurst | Yarmouth and the angle bastion | Calshot, Camber, Upnor and later forts | The national curriculum in England

Henry VIII’s plan

  1. 1 Between 1539 and 1547 Henry VIII made a national plan to defend England against invasion by powerful Catholic forces in Europe. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  2. 2 He built over 30 new gun forts to stop enemies capturing harbours and estuaries along the east and south coasts. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  3. 3 Some were small artillery “blockhouses”, as at Gravesend; others were large forts with circular designs. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  4. 4 The big forts had squat, rounded shapes, built to fire guns in every direction. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  5. 5 Examples survive at Pendennis and St Mawes in Cornwall, Portland in Dorset, Hurst and Calshot in Hampshire, Camber in Sussex, and Deal and Walmer in Kent. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  6. 6 By the end of Henry’s reign in 1547, Deal was one of 42 new artillery forts protecting ports, anchorages and estuaries. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  7. 7 In February 1539 the king’s council put into action “the device of the king”, a plan to improve the country’s defences. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  8. 8 English Heritage’s Local Learning page calls the plan the “device by the king”. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  9. 9 Local Learning says over 30 forts were built, the largest coastal defence programme in England since the Roman period. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  10. 10 English Heritage’s Deal pages say these forts are known as Henrician castles or “device forts”. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories
  11. 11 The same Deal page says they all share the circular design found at Deal, meant to protect them from all angles. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories
  12. 12 Most of Henry’s artillery forts, built from 1539 onwards, had a central tower surrounded by rounded bastions. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  13. 13 The circular shape and several tiers let the guns fire outwards all the way round. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  14. 14 The forts ran in a chain from Hull in the north-east round to Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  15. 15 Hurst’s history page calls this the first centrally planned system of coastal defence since a chain of Roman forts more than 1,200 years earlier. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  16. 16 Hurst’s significance page dates the chain of artillery forts to between 1539 and 1545. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  17. 17 Hurst’s significance page calls it the first national system of coastal defence since the Roman period. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  18. 18 The garrisons were small: in peacetime they looked after the fort, showed the king’s government was there and kept watch. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  19. 19 The forts turned out to be a dead end in fort design, but they were strong obstacles for many years. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  20. 20 Cannon were grouped closely together in each bastion to make a hit more likely. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  21. 21 By 1540 the fear of invasion had mostly died down, but Henry pressed on with the building. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  22. 22 “Expert men” were sent around England and Wales to suggest how to defend the coast. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  23. 23 Local Learning says Henry VIII and his government feared an invasion by France and Spain, whose kings opposed Henry’s break with the Catholic Church. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  24. 24 The new forts had big guns that could shatter enemy warships and troop ships. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  25. 25 Local Learning dates Pendennis and St Mawes to 1539–45. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles
  26. 26 Deal’s history and stories page dates Henry’s coastal forts to between 1539 and 1547. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories

The danger, and before and around the forts

  1. 27 Early in 1539 Pope Paul III arranged a treaty between Francis I of France and Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  2. 28 The pope urged them to invade England to punish Henry VIII. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  3. 29 Henry had outraged the pope by divorcing Katherine of Aragon, taking control of the Church in England and destroying the monasteries. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  4. 30 St Mawes’s history page dates the French and Spanish alliance to 1538. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  5. 31 Portland’s history page says Pope Paul brokered the alliance in 1538–9. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  6. 32 Portland’s history page says how real the invasion threat was is debatable. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  7. 33 After Henry’s break with Rome, England found itself politically isolated. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  8. 34 Henry VIII reigned from 1509 to 1547. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  9. 35 Deal’s history page gives Charles V’s reign as 1516–56. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  10. 36 Portland’s history page gives Charles V’s reign as 1519–58. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  11. 37 In 1537 John Arundell asked the king to protect the River Fal with blockhouses. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  12. 38 The Mary Rose sank in 1545 during a fight with the French fleet in the Solent. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  13. 39 In 1544 at least 38,000 men went to France, then the largest English army ever sent overseas. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  14. 40 In 1545, when England and France were fighting, three forces of French soldiers landed on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  15. 41 A 7.32-metre bronze cannon at Dover Castle, the “pocket pistol”, was presented to Henry VIII in 1544. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  16. 42 Before Henry’s programme there were already gun towers, for example at Dartmouth in the 1490s. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  17. 43 Camber had a gun tower from 1512, and St Catherine’s Castle at Fowey had one from about 1520. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  18. 44 Early Tudor handguns were costly, slower to shoot and less effective than a longbow used by a skilled archer. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  19. 45 By the end of his reign Henry had built a powerful navy of warships, the first line of defence. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  20. 46 Deal’s history page lists invasion scares in 1568–70, 1583–8 (including the Armada of 1588) and 1596–9. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  21. 47 Walmer’s history page lists an invasion scare in 1567 and Spanish Armada crises in 1587–8 and 1596–7. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  22. 48 Local Learning lists Spanish attempts in 1584, 1588 and 1597, when Carrick Roads was the target; all failed. English Heritage: Local Learning, Pendennis and St Mawes Castles

Deal

  1. 49 Deal Castle was built in 1539–40 on Henry VIII’s orders, designed for all-round fire from over 140 guns. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  2. 50 Three castles were to protect the open beaches around Deal and the Downs, an important offshore anchorage for the navy. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  3. 51 The Downs castles were finished in October 1540. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  4. 52 Deal Castle had guns in five tiers. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  5. 53 In 1547 Deal had 57 guns. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  6. 54 A castle fully armed with over 140 guns never actually happened. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  7. 55 In 1570 the castle had only 17 guns, most of them not fit to use. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  8. 56 Under James I and Charles I the castle had a small garrison of about 22 men. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  9. 57 In 1639, during the Battle of the Downs, 2,000 shipwrecked sailors struggled ashore. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  10. 58 In 1648 Deal was besieged; its defenders surrendered on 25 August. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  11. 59 Sandown Castle surrendered on 3 September 1648. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  12. 60 The Captain’s House was built in 1730–32. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  13. 61 The old Tudor parapets were taken down and replaced with decorative battlements. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  14. 62 In 1773 a list of the garrison named only eight gunners. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  15. 63 A German bomb badly damaged the Captain’s House on 5 October 1940. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  16. 64 In 1904 the War Office handed the castle to the Office of Works to be looked after as a historic building. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  17. 65 Deal reopened to the public in the early 1960s. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  18. 66 Today the Royal Marines Commandant General holds the post of Captain of Deal Castle as an honour. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  19. 67 On 27 December 1539 Anne of Cleves landed at Deal and rested at the unfinished castle. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories
  20. 68 Deal was the centre of three Tudor artillery forts, with Walmer to the south and Sandown to the north. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories
  21. 69 Since at least 1724 people have scratched graffiti into the lead of the castle’s roof. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories
  22. 70 English Heritage calls Deal the most elaborate of Henry VIII’s revolutionary coastal artillery castles. English Heritage: Deal Castle
  23. 71 A dark, narrow passage called the “Rounds” runs all the way round the castle. English Heritage: Deal Castle
  24. 72 After Henry died, Deal was kept going on a shoestring for the rest of the 1500s. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle
  25. 73 Deal’s visit page says Henry built the castles to defend against a threatened invasion by European Catholic powers. English Heritage: Deal Castle
  26. 74 Deal’s history page puts James I (reigned 1603–25) and Charles I under the heading “Stuart neglect”. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle

Walmer and Sandown

  1. 75 Walmer was finished in 1540, part of a defensive line 2.7 miles long from Walmer to Deal and Sandown. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  2. 76 Between the three castles were four more gun forts of earth and timber, linked by a bank and ditch. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  3. 77 Until the early 1700s the garrison was usually 19 men. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  4. 78 In 1648 the soldiers at Walmer came under mortar fire and surrendered. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  5. 79 On 26 June 1667 men and boys from Deal helped pile turf on Walmer’s ramparts to soak up cannon shot. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  6. 80 Walmer became the official home of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  7. 81 Prime Minister William Pitt became Lord Warden in 1792 and made Walmer his main home in 1802. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  8. 82 Of eight Lords Warden in a row, five were prime ministers. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  9. 83 The Duke of Wellington loved Walmer Castle. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  10. 84 From 1905 Walmer opened to the public when the Lord Warden was not staying there. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  11. 85 No invasion ever came, but Walmer later saw action in the English Civil Wars. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  12. 86 Walmer’s history page says it was built against the “perceived threat” of invasion from Europe. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle
  13. 87 Sandown Castle has now largely vanished. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle

Pendennis

  1. 88 Pendennis Castle was built between 1539 and 1545. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  2. 89 It guards Carrick Roads, a deep estuary at the mouth of the River Fal. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  3. 90 Henry built gun forts on opposite shores, at Pendennis and St Mawes. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  4. 91 It held up to 100 men, but only when there was a threat. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  5. 92 Pendennis was strengthened against planned Spanish invasions in 1574, 1579, 1588 and 1596–7. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  6. 93 By 1600 the engineer Paul Ive had wrapped Henry’s castle inside a much bigger fortress. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  7. 94 The new fortress was a long five-sided shape, with a high rampart, a ditch and a bastion at each corner. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  8. 95 The round castle was open to close attack from the land side. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  9. 96 In 1646 about 1,000 people held out in a five-month siege and surrendered in August when the food ran out. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  10. 97 Soldiers trained at Pendennis until 1956. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  11. 98 English Heritage calls Pendennis one of England’s finest surviving coastal fortresses. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  12. 99 Pendennis guarded Carrick Roads for over 400 years. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  13. 100 A minefield under the water was laid in 1885. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  14. 101 In 1596–7 a Spanish fleet planned to land troops at Pendennis; the attack never came. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  15. 102 Falmouth was named a Defended Port in 1887, bringing new defences for the estuary. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle
  16. 103 A year after 1956 it was handed back to the Ministry of Works to open to the public. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle

St Mawes

  1. 104 English Heritage calls St Mawes perhaps the best surviving example of a Henrician artillery fort. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  2. 105 St Mawes is a four-storey artillery fort. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  3. 106 St Mawes’s history page says it was one of 30 new fortifications. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  4. 107 Two castles guarded Carrick Roads, with crossfire across the anchorage. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  5. 108 Both castles stayed in military use from 1540 until 1956. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  6. 109 In 1595 a small Spanish force raided Cornwall. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  7. 110 In 1596 and 1597 another Armada set sail for Carrick Roads but was stopped by bad weather. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  8. 111 The garrison was small, never more than 15 people, and sometimes just a master gunner. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  9. 112 When St Mawes was built, people in Cornwall still used their own language. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  10. 113 A Latin carving at St Mawes says Henry VIII had the castle built in the 34th year of his reign. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  11. 114 St Mawes has a clover-leaf shape. English Heritage: St Mawes Castle
  12. 115 Its inscriptions praise Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. English Heritage: St Mawes Castle
  13. 116 By 1956 the fort was no longer needed, because rockets had replaced coast guns. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  14. 117 At St Mawes you can see an arrow and gun slit, called a “loop”, in the wall. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle
  15. 118 Few Henrician artillery forts are as complete as St Mawes. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle

Portland

  1. 119 Portland Castle was built in 1539–40. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  2. 120 It was one of two forts guarding Portland Roads; the other was Sandsfoot Castle. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  3. 121 Portland was not built to a circular design: its main gun battery is a curved segment facing the sea. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  4. 122 Behind the battery is a chevron-shaped keep. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  5. 123 Its first captain, Thomas Mervin, had only four gunners and two other men. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  6. 124 In 1547 Portland had 15 guns, plus 23 longbows, 24 bills and 14 pikes. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  7. 125 In 1574 the captain reported that the guns were not fit for service. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  8. 126 In 1643 Royalists recaptured the castle by pretending to be friendly troops. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  9. 127 About 160 warships fought a battle off Portland in 1653. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  10. 128 In the 1550s a captain let his brother store stolen goods in the castle. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  11. 129 In 1607 Portland was called “a very nursery” for helping pirates. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  12. 130 From 1816 the castle was rented to the Reverend John Manning as a home. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle
  13. 131 In a four-month siege in 1644 Portland’s Royalist garrison held firm. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

Hurst

  1. 132 Hurst Castle was built between 1541 and 1544. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  2. 133 It guarded the Needles Passage, only about 1,280 metres wide. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  3. 134 Hurst Castle was built on a long shingle spit. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  4. 135 King Charles I was held prisoner in the keep from 1 to 19 December 1648. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  5. 136 When it was finished in 1544, Hurst had about 20 guns. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  6. 137 Thomas Bertie, the master mason at Calshot, became its captain. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  7. 138 The spit was known for smugglers, sometimes from the garrison itself. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  8. 139 Hurst is unusual in having two lighthouses inside its walls. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  9. 140 Two of the huge 38-ton guns from the 1870s are still there. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  10. 141 A garrison theatre was built there in the Second World War. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  11. 142 English Heritage calls Hurst among the best preserved of Henry VIII’s castles. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle
  12. 143 Work to protect Southampton Water began in 1539 with Calshot Castle. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  13. 144 Hurst came into the care of the Ministry of Works in 1956. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  14. 145 On 19 December 1648 Charles I was taken from Hurst on the journey that led to his execution in London. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle
  15. 146 Hurst is one of very few of Henry’s castles to have been updated again and again, so it stayed in military use into the mid-1900s. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle

Yarmouth and the angle bastion

  1. 147 Yarmouth Castle, begun in 1546–7, was the last fort of the programme. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  2. 148 It is the earliest surviving English try-out of a new kind of fortification. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  3. 149 An angle bastion is usually shaped like an arrowhead with four straight sides. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  4. 150 Its two faces fire at the enemy, and its two flanks fire along the walls. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  5. 151 The angle bastion was an Italian idea. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  6. 152 Round designs left blind spots at the foot of the bastion walls. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  7. 153 The first English angle bastion survives at Yarmouth, from 1547. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  8. 154 By 1552 Yarmouth had a captain, Richard Udall, a porter and 17 soldiers, with 12 heavy guns, 140 longbows and 223 bills. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  9. 155 It is a square fort with a high wall, washed by the sea on two sides. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  10. 156 English Heritage has looked after Yarmouth since 1984. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  11. 157 Elizabeth I reigned from 1558 to 1603. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  12. 158 Fighting between England and France in 1545 was the direct reason for building Yarmouth Castle. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  13. 159 On its land sides Yarmouth was defended by an angle bastion and a wet moat. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle
  14. 160 The fighting of 1545 was part of a larger war in which Henry VIII was allied with the Holy Roman Emperor against the French. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle

Calshot, Camber, Upnor and later forts

  1. 161 Calshot Castle was built by Henry VIII to defend the sea passage to Southampton. English Heritage: Calshot Castle
  2. 162 Calshot has a round central keep. English Heritage: Calshot Castle
  3. 163 Calshot has more recently been used as a Navy and RAF base. English Heritage: Calshot Castle
  4. 164 Camber Castle is an unusually unaltered artillery fort built to guard the port of Rye. English Heritage: Camber Castle
  5. 165 Upnor Castle is a rare Elizabethan artillery fort, begun in 1559, built to protect warships at Chatham. English Heritage: Upnor Castle
  6. 166 In 1667 the Dutch sailed past Upnor. English Heritage: Upnor Castle
  7. 167 Upnor Castle (1559) was of an outdated design. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  8. 168 Later bastioned forts were built at Berwick-upon-Tweed (1553–1570), Carisbrooke (1587–1602) and Pendennis (1597–1600). English Heritage: Tudors: War
  9. 169 The angle bastion became the main way to build forts for the next 300 years. English Heritage: Tudors: War
  10. 170 Camber Castle lies between Rye and Winchelsea. English Heritage: Camber Castle
  11. 171 Calshot Castle was built on the western shore of Southampton Water. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

The national curriculum in England

  1. 172 At KS2, pupils in England study “an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  2. 173 KS2 local history can be “a study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  3. 174 At KS3, pupils study “the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  4. 175 One KS3 example is “the English Reformation and Counter-Reformation (Henry VIII to Mary I)”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  5. 176 Another is “the Elizabethan religious settlement and conflict with Catholics (including Scotland, Spain and Ireland)”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  6. 177 The curriculum names concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  7. 178 Pupils should understand how evidence is used to make claims, and why there are different accounts of the past. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  8. 179 The words “device forts” do not appear in the national curriculum in England. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study