Portland Castle
Encyclopedia
Device Forts
The Device Forts, also known as Henrician Castles, are a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the southern coast of England by Henry VIII. After his divorce of Catherine of Aragon England was left politically isolated, and the peace of Nice between France and Spain in 1538 aroused...
, also known as Henrician Castles, built in 1539 by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
on the Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
to guard the natural Portland anchorage
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
known as the Portland Roads. The castle lies in the far north of the island, in the village now called Castletown, near Fortuneswell. The castle is under the care of 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...
.
The castle artillery forts stretched all around the Kent coast, along the south coast of England, down to Lands End. Strategic sites were chosen protecting possible landing points of an invasion. The area today known as Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
was a weak point, and Portland castle was built. The entire harbour fell under artillery range from Portland Castle and nearby Sandsfoot Castle
Sandsfoot Castle
Sandsfoot Castle is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, also known as Henrician Castles, built in the 1530s to the west of Weymouth, Dorset, England, opposite its contemporary Portland Castle...
.
The castle was bolstered ready to repel the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
in 1588. In the event the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
fended off the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Portland just east of the isle of Portland on 23. July 1588.
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
1642-1649. Being an historic Royal Manor, Portland naturally supported King Charles and was a Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
stronghold. Nearby Weymouth - a merchant town - firmly backed Cromwell's Parliamentarians and a succession of battles and ruses saw Portland Castle captured and recaptured several times. Despite being hopelessly undermanned and inadequately armed, the Royalists managed to keep the island out of Cromwellian hands for all but two brief periods of the war. By 1645, after repeated attacks only Portland, Corfe and Sherborne remained in Royalist hands. When defeat finally came in 1646 Portland's surrender was bloodless, and on remarkably generous terms.
On the restoration in 1660, Charles II rewarded Portland's loyalty in the Civil War by a special Royal Grant Fund, giving back to the Islanders royalties on stone taken from the crown quarries. The Grant is still made today.
The castle again stood by during action in the Anglo-Dutch war
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
with the Battle of Portland
Battle of Portland
The naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle took place during 28 February-2 March 1653 , during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp...
, a bloody but indecisive three day sea battle close to the Island coast.
Portland castle was armed for the last time during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
See also
- Henry VIII: Legacy
- Isle of PortlandIsle of PortlandThe Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
- Device FortsDevice FortsThe Device Forts, also known as Henrician Castles, are a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the southern coast of England by Henry VIII. After his divorce of Catherine of Aragon England was left politically isolated, and the peace of Nice between France and Spain in 1538 aroused...
- Martello TowerMartello towerMartello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....
- Eastbourne RedoubtEastbourne RedoubtEastbourne Redoubt is a fort on what is now Royal Parade, Eastbourne, East Sussex, England.-History:The Redoubt was built between 1804 and 1810 to support the associated Martello towers in defending against the threat of an invasion by Napoleon. It has defended the Eastbourne coast for nearly 200...
- Pevensey CastlePevensey CastlePevensey Castle is a medieval castle and former Roman fort at Pevensey in the English county of East Sussex. The site is a Scheduled Monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to visitors.-Roman fort:...
- Dymchurch RedoubtDymchurch RedoubtDymchurch Grand Redoubt is a fortification on the coast of Kent in England, built during the Napoleonic War as part of a large defensive scheme to protect the country from an expected French invasion.-Description:...
Further reading
- Stuart Morris, (2011), Dorset; The Royal Navy (illustrated): The Dovecote Press, Wimborne, DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
: ISBN 978-1-904-34988-4 - Andrews, E.A., and M.L. Pinsent, "The coastal defences of Portland and Weymouth," Fort, No. 9, supplement, 1981, pp. 4–43.
- Colvin, H.M. (ed) (1982). The History of the King's Works, Vol. IV, 1485–1600, Part II.
- Harrington, Peter (2007). The castles of Henry VIII. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 9781846031304
- Stuart Morris, (1985, 2004). Portland, an Illustrated History. The Dovecote Press, Wimborne, Dorset: ISBN 0-946159-34-3
- Lawson, Susannah (2002). Portland Castle. London: English Heritage. ISBN 1850747253
- Morley, B. M. (1976). Henry VIII and the development of coastal defence. London: H.M. Stationery Office. ISBN 0116707771
- Stuart Morris, 1998 Portland (Discover Dorset Series) The Dovecote Press, Wimborne, Dorset: ISBN 1-874336-49-0.
- Palmer, Susann. 1999. Ancient Portland: Archaeology of the Isle. Portland: S. Palmer. ISBN 0-9532811-0-8
- Stuart Morris, 2002 Portland: A Portrait in Colour The Dovecote Press, Wimborne, Dorset: ISBN 1-874336-91-1.