The forts

Place by place

What English Heritage says about each one.

Deal, Kent

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 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

English Heritage calls Deal the most elaborate of Henry VIII’s revolutionary coastal artillery castles. English Heritage: Deal Castle 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

Deal Castle had guns in five tiers. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle A dark, narrow passage called the “Rounds” runs all the way round the castle. English Heritage: Deal Castle

On 27 December 1539 Anne of Cleves landed at Deal and rested at the unfinished castle. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories Since at least 1724 people have scratched graffiti into the lead of the castle’s roof. English Heritage: Deal Castle, history and stories

In 1648 Deal was besieged; its defenders surrendered on 25 August. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle The Captain’s House was built in 1730–32. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle

A German bomb badly damaged the Captain’s House on 5 October 1940. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle Today the Royal Marines Commandant General holds the post of Captain of Deal Castle as an honour. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle

Walmer and Sandown, Kent

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 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

Sandown Castle has now largely vanished. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle Sandown Castle surrendered on 3 September 1648. English Heritage: History of Deal Castle

Walmer became the official home of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle Prime Minister William Pitt became Lord Warden in 1792 and made Walmer his main home in 1802. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle

The Duke of Wellington loved Walmer Castle. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle From 1905 Walmer opened to the public when the Lord Warden was not staying there. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle

No invasion ever came, but Walmer later saw action in the English Civil Wars. English Heritage: History of Walmer Castle

Pendennis, Cornwall

Pendennis Castle was built between 1539 and 1545. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle It guards Carrick Roads, a deep estuary at the mouth of the River Fal. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle

Henry built gun forts on opposite shores, at Pendennis and St Mawes. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle It held up to 100 men, but only when there was a threat. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle

By 1600 the engineer Paul Ive had wrapped Henry’s castle inside a much bigger fortress. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle 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

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

English Heritage calls Pendennis one of England’s finest surviving coastal fortresses. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle Pendennis guarded Carrick Roads for over 400 years. English Heritage: History of Pendennis Castle

English Heritage praises several forts as the best or finest: see when sources disagree.

St Mawes, Cornwall

English Heritage calls St Mawes perhaps the best surviving example of a Henrician artillery fort. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle Few Henrician artillery forts are as complete as St Mawes. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle

St Mawes is a four-storey artillery fort. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle St Mawes has a clover-leaf shape. English Heritage: St Mawes Castle

St Mawes’s history page says it was one of 30 new fortifications. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle

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 Its inscriptions praise Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. English Heritage: St Mawes Castle

When St Mawes was built, people in Cornwall still used their own language. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle

Two castles guarded Carrick Roads, with crossfire across the anchorage. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle Both castles stayed in military use from 1540 until 1956. English Heritage: History of St Mawes Castle

Portland, Dorset

Portland Castle was built in 1539–40. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle It was one of two forts guarding Portland Roads; the other was Sandsfoot Castle. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

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 Behind the battery is a chevron-shaped keep. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

In the 1550s a captain let his brother store stolen goods in the castle. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle In 1607 Portland was called “a very nursery” for helping pirates. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

In 1643 Royalists recaptured the castle by pretending to be friendly troops. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle In a four-month siege in 1644 Portland’s Royalist garrison held firm. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

From 1816 the castle was rented to the Reverend John Manning as a home. English Heritage: History of Portland Castle

Hurst, Hampshire

Hurst Castle was built between 1541 and 1544. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle Hurst Castle was built on a long shingle spit. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

It guarded the Needles Passage, only about 1,280 metres wide. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle When it was finished in 1544, Hurst had about 20 guns. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

Thomas Bertie, the master mason at Calshot, became its captain. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle The spit was known for smugglers, sometimes from the garrison itself. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

King Charles I was held prisoner in the keep from 1 to 19 December 1648. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

Hurst is unusual in having two lighthouses inside its walls. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle Two of the huge 38-ton guns from the 1870s are still there. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle

English Heritage calls Hurst among the best preserved of Henry VIII’s castles. English Heritage: Significance of Hurst Castle 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

Calshot, Hampshire

Work to protect Southampton Water began in 1539 with Calshot Castle. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle Calshot Castle was built on the western shore of Southampton Water. English Heritage: History of Hurst Castle

Calshot Castle was built by Henry VIII to defend the sea passage to Southampton. English Heritage: Calshot Castle Calshot has a round central keep. English Heritage: Calshot Castle

Calshot has more recently been used as a Navy and RAF base. English Heritage: Calshot Castle

Camber, East Sussex

Camber Castle is an unusually unaltered artillery fort built to guard the port of Rye. English Heritage: Camber Castle Camber Castle lies between Rye and Winchelsea. English Heritage: Camber Castle

Camber had a gun tower from 1512, and St Catherine’s Castle at Fowey had one from about 1520. English Heritage: Tudors: War

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Yarmouth Castle, begun in 1546–7, was the last fort of the programme. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle Fighting between England and France in 1545 was the direct reason for building Yarmouth Castle. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle

It is the earliest surviving English try-out of a new kind of fortification. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle The first English angle bastion survives at Yarmouth, from 1547. English Heritage: Tudors: War

It is a square fort with a high wall, washed by the sea on two sides. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle On its land sides Yarmouth was defended by an angle bastion and a wet moat. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle

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 English Heritage has looked after Yarmouth since 1984. English Heritage: History of Yarmouth Castle

Upnor, Kent

Upnor Castle is a rare Elizabethan artillery fort, begun in 1559, built to protect warships at Chatham. English Heritage: Upnor Castle Upnor Castle (1559) was of an outdated design. English Heritage: Tudors: War

In 1667 the Dutch sailed past Upnor. English Heritage: Upnor Castle

Some of these places are dated or described differently by different sources. More on when sources disagree.

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