Harry's Walls

Harry's Walls
Harry's Walls
St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly
	The remains of the south-west side
	Harry's Walls
Coordinates	49°55′06″N 6°18′24″W / 49.91836°N 6.30674°W
Type	Artillery fort
Site information
Owner	English Heritage
Open to; the public	Yes
Condition	Uncompleted
Site history
Materials	Granite

Harry's Walls are the remains of an unfinished artillery fort, started in 1551 by the government of

Italianate-style bastions with protective orillons and would have been the most advanced design in the kingdom at the time. It was not completed, probably due to a shortage of funds and the passing of the invasion threat, and only the south-west side remains. In the 21st century, Harry's Walls are managed by English Heritage

and open to visitors.

History

In the 16th century, the

Edward VI, assumed the throne, with the government controlled by Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset.^[3] His brother, Thomas, inspected Scilly, resulting in new investments in their defences, initially focused on the island of Tresco.^[4] The Duke fell from power in 1549 and a fresh survey was conducted by Captain William Tyrrell; work then began on protecting the island of St Mary's.^[5]

In May 1551, John Killigrew, the captain of Pendennis Castle in Falmouth, was ordered to construct a fort on St Mary's, probably with the intent of guarding the entrance to the new harbour at Hugh Town.^[7] His instructions stated that it was to be positioned "upon the little hill betwixt the freshe water and St. Marie Roode", and was accompanied by a promise that lead would be sent for the roofing that summer.^[8] A document from the early 1550s noted that a brewhouse and a mill were ready to be sent to St Mary's from South Wales as part of the project, to be installed by the fresh water pond.^[9] The name "Harry's Walls" is the result of the defences being popularly, but incorrectly, attributed to Edward's father, Henry.^[10]

Contemporary plans showed an intention to create a square fortification with four angular, "arrow-head"

Italianate ideas first introduced in Portsmouth and Yarmouth under Henry, and would have been what the historian Andrew Saunders considers to be "the most advanced piece of military engineering for its date to be seen in this country".^[12] In 1554, two light artillery guns called sakers were reported installed in the fort.^[12] During the reign of Mary I, an unsuccessful attempt was made to create a garrison of 150 men on the island in 1554, partially to provide manpower to complete the project, and in 1591 proposals were again put forward to complete the work.^[13]

The defences were never completed; instead, new defences were constructed at

antiquary William Borlase was critical of the fort during his 1752 visit, noting that it had been "begun injudiciously" in a poor location.^[15] The writer John Troutbeck, who visited at the end of the 18th century, argued that if the fortification had been completed, "it would have been of little use, being placed too far within the head lands, and commanding none of the sounds to any effect.^[16] During the 20th century, criticism was levied about its position in relation to the anchorage, and about the size of the site, which was felt to be both too small for the proposed design and too difficult to defend.^[17]

More recent research suggests that that fortification actually commanded the harbour adequately.^[18] No single site would have been completely effective due to the rugged coastline, and that Harry's Walls may have been designed to work in concert with another fort.^[18] Furthermore, the fort would have fitted easily into its proposed location and have been easy to defend, due to the surrounding water and marshland.^[19] Instead, the high costs of England's wider fortification programme - Edward's government spent an unsustainable £35,228 on construction work during the five years of his reign - are blamed for making its completion unviable, particularly once the French invasion threat had passed.^[20]^{[nb 1]}

The south-west side of the fort, comprising two bastions and a connecting

standing stone, later used to help navigation at sea, is positioned just to the north of the fort, with a modern navigational aid positioned alongside it.^[23] In the 21st century these remains are managed by English Heritage and open to the public.^[9] The remains are protected under UK law as an ancient monument.^[11]

Notes

^ It is difficult to accurately compare 16th-century and modern prices or incomes. £35,228 in 1551 could equate to between £159 million and £4,728 million in 2015 terms, depending on the measure used. For comparison, the smaller defences along the south coast of England each cost Henry VIII between £500 and £1,000 to build, and the larger forts as much as £10,000.^[21]