Bayard's Cover Fort is a small early Tudor

Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...

 artillery fort, built to defend the harbour entrance at Dartmouth, Devon

Dartmouth, Devon

Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The tower was a third means of defence for the port, providing additional fire to protect the port should any enemy ships have broken past Dartmouth Castle

Dartmouth Castle

Dartmouth Castle is one of a pair of forts, the other being Kingswear Castle, that guard the mouth of the Dart Estuary in Devon, England .A small fortalice was built in 1388 under the direction of John Hawley...

 and Kingswear Castle

Kingswear Castle

Kingswear Castle was built between 1491 and 1502 as a coastal artillery tower for use with heavy cannon. It is located in Devon, England.Owing to the limited range of cannon at the time, the fort at Kingswear was designed to work alongside Dartmouth Castle on the opposite bank, so that between them...

 at the entrance of the cove.

Today, the site is owned by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

, and sits at the end of the pier as an open shell.

External links

• Bayard's Cove Fort - official site