Hurst Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hurst Castle |
|
|---|---|
| Hurst Point, Milford on Sea, Hampshire, England | |
|
The castle seen from the south-east in 2011
|
|
 Hurst Castle
|
|
| Coordinates | 50°42′23″N 1°33′04″W / 50.70639°N 1.55111°W |
| Type | Device Fort |
| Site information | |
| Owner | English Heritage |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Official name | Hurst Castle and lighthouse |
| Designated | 9 October 1981 |
| Reference no. | 1015699 |
| Condition | Intact |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1541–44; 1861–74 |
| In use | 1544-1945 |
| Materials | Stone, Brick |
Hurst Castle is a historic fort built by King Henry VIII between 1541 and 1544. It stands on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, England. The castle was part of a big plan by the king to protect England's coast from attacks by France and the Holy Roman Empire. It guarded the western entrance to the Solent, a waterway leading to important naval bases.
The first castle had a central tower, called a keep, and three strong points called bastions. By 1547, it had 26 guns. Even though it was expensive to run, Hurst Castle was one of the most powerful forts along the coast. During the English Civil War in the 1640s, the castle was held by Parliament's forces. King Charles I was even held there briefly before he was executed in 1649.
Hurst Castle continued to be used for centuries. It was repaired and updated during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with France. Later, in the 1850s, new fears of invasion led to even heavier guns being added. Between 1861 and 1874, two long, granite-faced gun batteries were built next to the old castle. These held very powerful weapons, including huge 12.5-inch guns. Over time, these also became old-fashioned, and smaller, faster-firing guns were installed.
The castle was part of England's defenses during both the First World War and the Second World War. The military stopped using the fort in 1956. Today, English Heritage and the Friends of Hurst Castle manage it as a popular tourist attraction. About 40,000 people visit each year. Coastal erosion is a growing problem for the castle, with parts of its walls collapsing in 2021. Four lighthouses have been built at Hurst since the 1700s, and one of them, built in 1867, is still working today.
Contents
History of Hurst Castle
Building the Fort in the 1500s
Hurst Castle was built because of big disagreements between England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire. Usually, local lords and communities were in charge of coastal defenses. But King Henry VIII decided to take a more active role. In 1533, Henry VIII had a big disagreement with Pope Paul III. The Pope then encouraged France and the Holy Roman Empire to attack England. An invasion seemed very likely.
In response, King Henry VIII ordered many new forts to be built along the English coastline in 1539. These were called "device forts." Hurst Castle was designed to protect the western entrance to the Solent. This waterway led from the English Channel to the important naval base at Portsmouth.
Hurst Castle was one of four forts suggested to strengthen the Solent's defenses. It was built on the Hurst Spit, a strip of shingle (small stones) that protected saltmarshes. The castle was finished by January 1544. It cost over £3,200, which was a huge amount of money back then.
The finished castle was a strong stone fort with a central keep and three bastions. It was surrounded by a moat. In 1547, Hurst had 26 artillery pieces, which are large guns. Some were made of brass, and most were iron. A survey in 1559 said Hurst Castle was very important for sending help from the mainland to the Isle of Wight. It also noted the castle had many guns, handguns, bows, and arrows.
The survey also pointed out that the castle was expensive to keep running. It needed a captain, a deputy, twelve gunners, nine soldiers, and a porter. Even so, its many weapons made it one of the most powerful forts in the south of England.
By 1558, the threat of invasion from France had passed. England's focus shifted to Spain. By 1569, the castle had fewer than ten guns. Its gun platforms needed serious repairs by 1593.
Hurst Castle in the 1600s
In the early 1600s, England was at peace, so coastal defenses were not a top priority. By 1628, Hurst Castle was in poor condition. Only four or five of its twenty-seven guns worked, and it had no ammunition. In 1635, the government replaced the castle's brass guns with iron ones.
When the English Civil War began in 1642, Hurst Castle was held by supporters of Parliament. In December 1648, King Charles I was held prisoner at the castle for a short time before his trial and execution. After the war, the castle remained in use and was strengthened in 1650. This was done to prepare for a possible invasion by Royalist forces.
After King Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, the castle's future was uncertain. The king even thought about tearing it down. Instead, in 1666, it was decided that soldiers from the Isle of Wight would staff the castle. By 1675, Hurst had a regular group of soldiers and almost thirty guns.
The 1700s at the Castle
Hurst Castle continued as a military base in the 1700s. It was also used to hold a Catholic priest, Father Paul Atkinson. He was held there for 29 years, from 1700 until his death. He was likely the only person imprisoned under a law against Catholic priests.
There were also many problems with smugglers around Hurst Castle. In 1729, the Revenue service used a special boat to fight smugglers. But the problems continued, and the castle area became a meeting point for criminals.
The castle itself fell into disrepair. Reports from the 1770s and 1790s showed that the fort's guns could not be used. Water was leaking through the old walls. By 1793, it was considered the "worst condition" fort on the coast. Repairs were approved, but not much was done. Civilians, like fishermen, also started using the spit. A lighthouse, called the Hurst Tower, was built there in 1786. An inn, the Shipwright's Arms, opened next to the castle.
The war with France started again in 1793. This led to a big update of the castle. Repairs were made in 1794. Two new gun batteries, each with five heavy 36-pounder guns, were built next to the castle in 1795. The old fort got eighteen 9-pounder guns. All these guns had been captured from the French.
Hurst Castle in the 1800s
Early 1800s Updates
By 1803, war with France seemed likely again. The 16th-century keep was changed to hold six 24-pounder guns. The roof was made stronger, and a central stone pillar was added. This work was finished by the end of 1806. The updated castle was similar to the Martello towers being built along the coast.
The remodelled castle did not see much action during the Napoleonic Wars. However, in 1809, it was used as a hospital for injured soldiers returning from Spain. A second lighthouse, called the High Lighthouse, was built next to the castle in 1812.
Interest in Hurst Castle grew again in the 1840s. New shell guns and steamships meant France could attack the south coast more easily. Steamships could pass the castle quickly, making the old guns less effective. Military experts suggested adding many more and much heavier guns.
Improvements were made between 1852 and 1856, costing over £6,725. The keep was updated for 32-pounder guns. The seaward-facing bastions and walls were strengthened with brick casemates, which are protected gun positions. The moat was made deeper. Two new batteries were built to the west and east of the castle. They were protected by shingle and earth. A barrack block was built for soldiers. Hurst became a powerful fort again, with many heavy guns. It needed 440 men in wartime and 105 in peacetime.
In 1852, a telegraph cable was laid to connect the castle to the mainland and the Isle of Wight. Hurst used flags to send telegraph messages to ships entering the Solent.
Major Changes in the Mid-1800s
Military technology changed very quickly. New guns and armor-plated warships made Hurst's defenses old-fashioned by the end of the 1850s. Fears of a surprise French invasion grew in 1859. A special Royal Commission suggested that Hurst Castle should be upgraded urgently.
Hurst was given new, heavy rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns. These guns were slow to reload. To make sure the castle could hit fast-moving enemy ships, two long gun batteries were built on either side of the old castle. The west wing had 37 gun positions, and the east wing had 24. These were built on top of the older batteries, and the castle's moat had to be filled in. The work cost £211,000 and was mostly finished by 1870.
In peacetime, the castle had about 131 officers and men. But it would have needed many more during wartime to operate all the weapons. By 1881, the castle had ten huge 12.5-inch RML guns, fifteen 10-inch RML guns, five 9-inch RML guns, and three 64-pounders. This made it a very powerful arsenal.
Two new lighthouses were built in the 1860s. The "Low Light" was built into the back wall of the west wing. The "High Light," the free-standing Hurst Point Lighthouse, was built between 1865 and 1867. A new pub, the Castle Inn, opened nearby. A small railway was built in the 1880s to bring supplies into the castle.
By the 1880s and 1890s, naval guns were even more powerful, and warships were faster. This led to more investment in the castle between 1888 and 1893. The keep's magazine, where shells were stored, was strengthened with concrete. New 6-pounder quick-firing guns were installed to target fast-moving torpedo boats. More emplacements for 12-pounder guns were added, including one on top of the keep.
Thomas Clarke, a leader of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, was born in Hurst Castle.
20th and 21st Centuries
By the First World War, many of Hurst Castle's older guns were outdated. The castle still had seventeen of them, but it relied on its newer, faster-firing weapons. After the war, the guns were removed from the 16th-century part of the castle. This part was given to the Ministry of Works in 1933. Some updates were made to the rest of the fort in the 1930s. A new iron lighthouse replaced the "low light" in 1911.
During the Second World War, Hurst Castle was re-armed in 1940 with two 12-pounder guns. Soldiers were stationed there. Searchlights and two more 6-pounder guns were added the next year, along with Bofors anti-aircraft guns. A tower, called the Director Tower, was built along the west wing. After the war ended in July 1945, most of the weapons were removed.
In 1956, Hurst Castle was fully handed over to the Ministry of Works. In the 1970s, extra concrete protection added to the south bastion in the 1880s was removed. When English Heritage was formed in 1983, it took control of the castle. Since 1996, the Friends of Hurst Castle have managed the castle day-to-day. As of 2015, about 40,000 people visit the castle each year. The castle is protected as an ancient monument. The High Lighthouse, built in 1867, is still in use and is a protected building.
The Hurst Spit is slowly moving towards the shore due to coastal erosion. This has damaged parts of the old west wing battery and barracks. The erosion has gotten much worse since the 1940s. This is because barriers built at nearby Bournemouth and Christchurch stopped new pebbles from reaching the spit. The government started efforts in the 1960s to stabilize the spit. Over 900,000 tonnes of gravel were laid down in the 1990s, and this work continues today. Erosion caused new damage to the eastern end of the castle in early 2013.
In January 2021, news reports said the castle needed urgent repairs because of coastal erosion. The wall of the eastern wing partly collapsed on February 26, 2021. Repairs started the next month, using shingle and granite to stabilize the wall. This work was finished in June 2021. English Heritage said that full repairs would take many months.
In October 2021, the castle and lighthouse received part of a £35-million grant from the government. In September 2022, Hurst Castle was part of a fundraising campaign by English Heritage. They hope to raise enough money to repair and strengthen the sea walls around the castle.
Architecture of Hurst Castle
The Central Castle
The central part of Hurst Castle was first built in the 1500s. But it was changed a lot in the early and mid-1800s. It has a central tower and three bastions (strong points) to the north-west, north-east, and south. It is about 52 meters across. A wall with gun positions originally connected the three bastions. This wall was later changed to make it deeper. The central castle is the main entrance to the fort. You enter through a gateway built in 1873. The 16th-century moat that protected the castle was filled in during the 1860s.
The central tower, or keep, has twelve sides and is about 20 meters across. It has two floors and a basement. Inside, the tower is round, with a spiral staircase going up through a central pillar. The ground and first floors were once living areas for the soldiers. Now they are open spaces. Both floors have eight windows for lighter weapons. The roof has remains of gun positions from the 1850s. It used to have a look-out tower on top, but this was removed in 1805. When first built, the keep was connected to the outer bastions by three bridges.
The two-story north-west bastion protected the castle from attacks along the spit. It had the castle's original portcullis (a heavy gate) and provided living space for the soldiers. It had three levels of gun positions. These were changed in the 1800s for heavier weapons and to shelter riflemen. This bastion connects to a covered walkway called a caponier, built in 1852. This walkway had small openings for rifles to defend against close attacks. The north-east and south-east bastions are only one story tall. They also had gun positions that were updated for heavier guns in the 1800s.
The West and East Wings
The West and East Wings were built in the 1860s using brick and stone. They had rows of gun positions. Each position was designed to hold a heavy gun and a crew of up to 12 men. These positions were protected by granite fronts and iron shields. They could also be used as living areas for the crews. Small magazines, where ammunition was stored, were behind the gun positions.
The West Wing is about 215 meters long. It has 37 heavy gun positions and two main magazines. It also has other buildings like canteens and detention rooms. Two of the castle's lighthouses are in the West Wing: an old tower from 1865 and an iron, gas-lit tower that is still used. The garden here is a recreation of the garden from the Second World War. Most of the newer guns added in the late 1800s and early 1900s were placed in the West Wing. Its roof holds positions for 12-pounder and 6-pounder quick-firing guns, and a Bofors gun. A small theater, built by soldiers during the Second World War, is still in one of the gun positions. It has original wall paintings.
The East Wing has not been changed much since it was built. It is about 150 meters long. It has 24 heavy gun positions and two main magazines. On the roof is the original gun directing position and a Bofors gun position added during the Second World War. You reach it through a gateway in the north-east bastion. Just beyond the East Wing are three 6-pounder quick-firing gun positions from 1893. Ammunition was brought to them from the wing through a hole in the outer wall.
See also
- British narrow gauge military railways
