Sandown Castle, Kent

Coordinates: 51°14′18″N 1°24′08″E / 51.2384°N 1.4022°E / 51.2384; 1.4022
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Not to be confused with Sandown Castle, Isle of Wight.

Sandown Castle
Device Fort
Open to
the public		Yes
ConditionLimited ruins remain
Location
Sandown Castle is located in Kent
Sandown Castle
Sandown Castle
Coordinates51°14′18″N 1°24′08″E / 51.2384°N 1.4022°E / 51.2384; 1.4022
Site history
EventsSecond English Civil War
Official nameSandown Castle
Designated30 August 1960
Reference no.1005147

Sandown Castle was an artillery fort constructed by

Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the strategically important Downs anchorage
off the English coast.

Comprising a

Parliamentary forces
after several months' fighting.

By the 19th century, the castle was suffering badly from the effects of

sea wall
but remains vulnerable to further erosion by the sea.

History

16th century

Sandown Castle was built as a consequence of international tensions between England,

Henry VIII. Traditionally the Crown had left coastal defences to the local lords and communities, only taking a modest role in building and maintaining fortifications, and while France and the Empire remained in conflict with one another, maritime raids were common but an actual invasion of England seemed unlikely.[1] Modest defences, based around simple blockhouses and towers, existed in the south-west and along the Sussex coast, with a few more impressive works in the north of England, but in general the fortifications were very limited in scale.[2]

A 1539 early design for either Sandown or nearby Walmer Castle

In 1533, Henry broke with Pope

device", in 1539, giving instructions for the "defence of the realm in time of invasion" and the construction of forts along the English coastline.[7]

Sandown and the adjacent castles of Deal and Walmer were constructed to protect the Downs in east Kent, an important anchorage formed by the Goodwin Sands that gave access to Deal Beach, on which enemy soldiers could easily be landed.[8] The stone castles were supported by a line of four earthwork forts, known as the Great Turf, the Little Turf Bulwark, the Great White Bulwark of Clay and the Walmer Bulwark, and a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long defensive ditch and bank.[9] Collectively the castles became known as the "castles of the Downs" and cost the Crown a total of £27,092.[10][a]

The castle was built between April 1539 and the autumn of 1540, by a team including Richard Benese as the surveyor, William Clement as the master carpenter, and Christopher Dickenson as the master mason.

newer Italian styles of defence.[16]

Sandown had three tiers of

gunloops in the basement for handguns should close defence be required.[17] The embrasures in the walls were all widely splayed to provide the maximum possible space for the guns to operate and traverse, and the interior of the castle was designed with vents to allow the smoke from its guns to escape.[17] It was initially garrisoned by a captain, two lieutenants, two porters, ten gunners and three soldiers, at an annual cost of £174 a year.[18][a]

17th century

porter's lodge; C – battery of seven guns; D – keep; E – inner passageway; F – gunroom
and gunners' cabins; G – battery of five guns

Although the original invasion threat passed, Sandown continued in military use into the 17th century. A 1616 survey nonetheless reported that a range of repairs were needed, at an estimated total cost of £437, while a 1634 survey noted that work estimated at £1,243 was required.

sea defences.[21][c]

Sandown Castle did not play a prominent role during the first English Civil War that broke out between the supporters of King Charles I and Parliament; it was taken by Parliamentary forces at the start of the conflict in 1642.[23] Following the few years of unsteady peace after 1645, the Second Civil War broke out in 1648, this time with Charles' Royalist supporters joined by Scottish allies. The Parliamentary navy was based in the Downs, protected by Sandown and the other Henrician castles, but by May a Royalist insurrection was underway across Kent.[24]

Vice-Admiral William Batten had been forced by Parliamentary officials to resign from his post as Commander of the Fleet the previous year, and he now encouraged the fleet to join the Royalist faction.[25] Sir Henry Palmer, a former sailor, accompanied by other members of the Kentish gentry, also called on the fleet to revolt, taking advantage of the many fellow Kentish men in the crews.[26] Sandown Castle declared for the King, followed shortly afterwards by the garrisons at Deal and Walmer as well.[27] With both the coastal fortresses and the navy now under Royalist control, Parliament feared that foreign forces might be landed along the coast or aid sent to the Scots.[28]

Parliament defeated the wider insurgency at the Battle of Maidstone at the start of June, and then sent a force under the command of Colonel Nathaniel Rich to deal with Sandown and the other castles along the Downs.[29] Walmer Castle was the first to be besieged and surrendered on 12 July.[30] An earthwork fort was then built between Sandown and Deal, which may have been defended by around 150 men each.[30] Deal was attacked in late July, and in August artillery assaults began on Sandown as well.[30] The Royalists mounted an attack from the fleet on 10 August, with a second attack following on 15 August, involving a landing of 750 men supported by 50 soldiers from Sandown.[31] Neither operation was successful and Sandown finally surrendered on 5 September, a few weeks after the surrender of Deal.[32]

In 1649, Parliament ordered that supplies of ammunition and powder be sent to Sandown and the other castles of the Downs.

restored to the throne in 1660 he reduced the numbers again to a captain and 18 men.[34] In the Glorious Revolution of 1688 against Charles' brother, King James II, the townsfolk of Deal seized Sandown Castle on behalf of William III, the Prince of Orange.[35]

The former Parliamentarian, Colonel John Hutchinson, was infamously detained by the Crown at Sandown in 1664; his wife, Lucy, who subsequently widely publicised his case, described the castle as ruinous and his imprisonment there as inhumane.[36] After several months Hutchinson died in the castle, his doctor blaming his physical decline on the conditions in which he had been kept.[36]

18th–21st centuries

Engraving of the castle in 1853

In 1785, the sea broke through the outer walls of the castle, and coastal erosion continued over the next few years.

coastguard for the suppression of local smuggling.[39]

Coastal erosion continued during the 19th century.[40] As a consequence, the War Office sold off the reusable materials of the fortification for £564 in 1863 and demolished the upper parts of the castle, leaving a level platform across the lower parts of the keep and the bastions.[41][b] Part of the stone was purchased by the Earl of Granville and used in his building work at Walmer Castle, while other masonry was reused in the construction of Deal Pier.[42] The sea continued to erode the remaining stonework and destroyed one of the adjacent artillery batteries – the other was converted for use by the coastguard.[38] In 1882 the Royal Engineers used explosives to remove around 600 tonnes (590 long tons; 660 short tons) of masonry from the castle for use in the construction of an officer's house at Dover Castle, causing further damage.[43]

In 1883 architectural historian Hayter Lewis complained to the

sea wall, although they remain vulnerable to further coastal erosion.[46] The remains of the castle are protected under UK law as a scheduled monument.[47]

Panorama of the remains in 2006

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Comparing early modern costs and prices with those of the modern period is challenging. £27,092 in 1539 could be equivalent to between £15.3 million and £6,960 million in 2014, depending on the price comparison used, and £174 to between £98,000 to £44 million. For comparison, the total royal expenditure on all the Device Forts across England between 1539–47 came to £376,500, with St Mawes, for example, costing £5,018, and Sandgate £5,584.[11]
  2. ^ a b c Comparing 19th century costs and prices with those of the modern period depends on the price comparison used. £563 in 1863 could be worth between £57,000 and £1.2 million in 2014 terms, depending on the measure used, and £35 in 1894 to between £3,700 and £42,000.[22]
  3. ^ Comparing early modern costs and prices with those of the modern period is challenging. £43 in 1616 could be equivalent to between £73,000 and £23 million in 2014, depending on the price comparison used; £1,243 in 1634 to between £179,000 and £51 million, and £8,000 in 1641 to between £1.2 million and £351 million.[22]

References

  1. ^ Thompson 1987, p. 111; Hale 1983, p. 63
  2. ^ King 1991, pp. 176–177
  3. ^ Morley 1976, p. 7
  4. ^ Hale 1983, p. 63; Harrington 2007, p. 5
  5. ^ Morley 1976, p. 7; Hale 1983, pp. 63–64
  6. ^ Hale 1983, p. 66; Harrington 2007, p. 6
  7. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 11; Walton 2010, p. 70
  8. ^ King 1991, p. 178; Harrington 2007, p. 16
  9. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 16
  10. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 8
  11. ^ Biddle et al. 2001, p. 12; Lawrence H. Officer; Samuel H. Williamson (2014), "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 29 May 2015
  12. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 8; "A Colored bird's Eye View of "A Castle for the Downes"; Probably an Early Design for Walmer and Sundown Castles". British Library. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  13. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 21; Rutton 1898, p. 26; Saunders 1989, p. 38
  14. ^ Saunders 1989, p. 38
  15. ^ Rutton 1898, p. 26
  16. ^ Hale 1983, p. 73
  17. ^ a b Harrington 2007, p. 21; Saunders 1989, p. 38
  18. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 162
  19. ^ Elvin 1890, pp. 172–173, 177
  20. ^ Bull 2008, pp. 82–83
  21. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 178
  22. ^ a b Lawrence H. Officer; Samuel H. Williamson (2014), "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 29 May 2015
  23. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 183
  24. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 50; Kennedy 1962, pp. 251–252
  25. ^ Kennedy 1962, pp. 248–250; Harrington 2007, p. 50
  26. ^ Ashton 1994, p. 440
  27. ^ Kennedy 1962, pp. 251–252
  28. ^ Ashton 1994, pp. 439–440
  29. ^ Ashton 1994, p. 440; Harrington 2007, p. 51
  30. ^ a b c Harrington 2007, p. 51
  31. ^ Ashton 1994, p. 441
  32. ^ Harrington 2007, p. 51; Ashton 1994, p. 442
  33. ^ a b Elvin 1890, p. 210
  34. ^ Elvin 1890, pp. 211–213
  35. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 224
  36. ^ a b c Mackenzie 1896, p. 40
  37. ^ a b Elvin 1890, p. 226
  38. ^ a b Elvin 1890, p. 226; Elvin 1894, p. 138
  39. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 226; Elvin 1894, p. 188
  40. ^ Mackenzie 1896, p. 38
  41. ^ Elvin 1890, p. 226; Lewis 1884, p. 177
  42. ^ Elvin 1894, p. 146; "History". Dover District Council. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  43. ^ Anonymous 1883, pp. 37–38; Lewis 1884, p. 178
  44. ^ Lewis 1884, pp. 177–178
  45. ^ Mackenzie 1896, pp. 38–39
  46. ^ "Coastal Defences". Dover District Council. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.; "Appendix 1 -Theme 11, Archaeology" (PDF). Dover District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  47. ^ "Appendix 1 -Theme 11, Archaeology" (PDF). Dover District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.

Bibliography

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