Mersea Fort
Mersea Fort | |
---|---|
East Mersea, Essex, England | |
Coordinates | 51°47′48″N 1°00′12″E / 51.79674°N 1.00343°E |
Type | Device Fort |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Ruined |
Site history | |
Built | 1543 |
Materials | Earth |
Events | Second English Civil War |
Mersea Fort, also known as Cudmore Grove Blockhouse, was an artillery fort established by
History
16th – 17th centuries
Mersea Fort was built as a consequence of international tensions between England,
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Fort_Mersea_plan.jpg/220px-Fort_Mersea_plan.jpg)
In 1533, Henry broke with Pope
The county of
In 1552 the fort was decommissioned, but was subsequently recommissioned by Mary I.[14] In addition to the fort's military role, it hosted a court to oversee the oysterfields along the East Mersea coast, which were particularly lucrative but at risk of overfishing. In 1566, Colchester introduced new rules to govern the oyster trade, which were enforced by an admiralty court, held when necessary in Mersea Fort; the location was chosen so as to demonstrate the town's authority all the way up to the top of the estuary.[15] A survey in 1586 showed the fort had been abandoned by the military once again: the defences were in a poor state, the guns' barrels were clogged with dirt and the site had been occupied by an elderly woman.[14] It was brought back into use in 1588 and 1631 to defend against first the Spanish Armada and then the Dunkirker privateers.[12]
English Civil War and Interregnum
During the First English Civil War between the supporters of King
Mersea Fort was placed under the command of Captain William Burrell.[16] Guns and ammunition were kept there in case of a fresh rebellion, with a garrison of 36 men, which was temporarily reinforced by an additional squadron of horsemen and 50 foot soldiers in July 1650.[16] Repairs were made from 1651 onwards, and new accommodation was constructed for the fort's gunners.[16] After an invasion scare in 1655, Mersea was temporarily used to imprison Royalists suspected of planning an insurgency against Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth government.[16] The fort was then demobilised by Cromwell as part of his efforts to reduce defence costs; Burrell was ordered to dismantle the fort but the order was never carried out, partially because of the practical difficulties and because of opposition from the owner of the land.[17] The admiralty court continued to be held in the fort, although it proved much harder to enforce the fishery rules because of the political turmoil.[18]
18th – 21st centuries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Eastern_Tip_of_Mersea_Island_-_geograph.org.uk_-_137919.jpg/220px-Eastern_Tip_of_Mersea_Island_-_geograph.org.uk_-_137919.jpg)
By the 18th century, Mersea Fort was in ruins.
In the 21st century, the remains of the site are protected under UK law as a
Notes
- ^ Comparing early modern costs and prices with those of the modern period is challenging. £2,717 in 1543 could be equivalent to between £1.26 million and £601 million, depending on the price comparison used. For comparison, the total royal expenditure on all the Device Forts across England between 1539 and 1547 came to £376,500, with St Mawes and Sandgate Castle, for example, costing £5,018 and £5,584 apiece.[9]
References
- ^ Thompson 1987, p. 111; Hale 1983, p. 63
- ^ King 1991, pp. 176–177
- ^ Morley 1976, p. 7
- ^ Hale 1983, p. 63; Harrington 2007, p. 5
- ^ Morley 1976, p. 7; Hale 1983, pp. 63–64
- ^ Hale 1983, p. 66; Harrington 2007, p. 6
- ^ Harrington 2007, p. 11; Walton 2010, p. 70
- ^ Colvin, Ransome & Summerson 1982, p. 470; "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ Biddle et al. 2001, p. 12; Harrington 2007, p. 8; Lawrence H. Officer; Samuel H. Williamson (2014), "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016; "Historic Environment Commissions Report: Impact", English Heritage, 2011, p. 15, archived from the original on 6 October 2016, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ a b Colvin, Ransome & Summerson 1982, p. 471; "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ a b c "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ Essex County Council, Historic Environment Branch (2010), "The Greater Thames Estuary Historic Environment Research Framework" (PDF), Greater Thames Estuary Archaeological Steering Committee, p. 67, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ a b Colvin, Ransome & Summerson 1982, p. 471
- ^ a b c d A. Baggs; Beryl Board; Philip Crummy; Claude Dove; Shirley Durgan; N. Goose; R. Pugh; Pamela Studd; C. Thornton (1994), Janet Cooper; C. Elrington (eds.), "Fishery", A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester, British History Online, pp. 264–269, retrieved 7 April 2016; Andrew Phillips (13 August 2010), "But Who Knows Where Gin and Gingerbread come into Opening the Oyster Fishery", Essex County Standard, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The Tudor Fort at East Mersea", Mersea Museum, archived from the original on 6 April 2016, retrieved 6 April 2016
- ^ "The Tudor Fort at East Mersea", Mersea Museum, archived from the original on 6 April 2016, retrieved 6 April 2016; "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ A. Baggs; Beryl Board; Philip Crummy; Claude Dove; Shirley Durgan; N. Goose; R. Pugh; Pamela Studd; C. Thornton (1994), Janet Cooper; C. Elrington (eds.), "Fishery", A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester, British History Online, pp. 264–269, retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ a b Fautley & Garon 2005, p. 74
- ^ "Historic Environment Commissions Report: Impact", English Heritage, 2011, p. 15, archived from the original on 6 October 2016, retrieved 7 April 2016; "Tudor Blockhouse 300 m South of Mersea Stone", Historic England, retrieved 7 April 2016
Bibliography
- Biddle, Martin; Hiller, Jonathon; Scott, Ian; Streeten, Anthony (2001). Henry VIII's Coastal Artillery Fort at Camber Castle, Rye, East Sussex: An Archaeological Structural and Historical Investigation. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. ISBN 0-904220-23-0.
- Colvin, H. M.; Ransome, D. R.; Summerson (1982). The History of the King's Works, Volume 4: 1485–1660, Part 2. London, UK: HMSO. ISBN 0-11-670832-8.
- Fautley, M. P. B.; Garon, J. H. (2005) [2004]. Essex Coastline: Then and Now (2nd ed.). Winterbourne Down, UK: Potton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9548010-0-7.
- Hale, J. R. (1983). Renaissance War Studies. London, UK: Hambledon Press. ISBN 0-907628-17-6.
- Harrington, Peter (2007). The Castles of Henry VIII. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-0380-1.
- King, D. J. Cathcart (1991). The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretative History. London, UK: Routledge Press. ISBN 978-0-415-00350-6.
- Morley, B. M. (1976). Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence. London, UK: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-670777-1.
- Thompson, M. W. (1987). The Decline of the Castle. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-85422-608-8.
- Walton, Steven A. (2010). "State Building Through Building for the State: Foreign and Domestic Expertise in Tudor Fortification". Osiris. 25 (1): 66–84. S2CID 144384757.