St Andrew's Castle, Hamble

Coordinates: 50°51′09″N 1°19′00″W / 50.8524°N 1.3166°W / 50.8524; -1.3166
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For the castle of the same name in Scotland, see St Andrews Castle

St Andrew's Castle
Device Fort
Site information
Open to
the public		Yes
ConditionFragments only remain
Site history
Built1542-43
MaterialsStone
EventsEnglish Civil War

St Andrew's Castle was an artillery fort constructed by

Henry VIII near Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, between 1542 and 1543. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended Southampton Water near the Solent. St Andrew's comprised a keep and a gun platform, protected by a moat. The castle was decommissioned in 1642 during the English Civil War and has been largely destroyed through coastal erosion
.

History

St Andrew's 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] Basic 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]

In 1533, Henry then 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]

William Paulet, an early captain of the castle

St Andrew's Castle was built to defend Southampton Water, a body of water which linked the Solent to the important port of Southampton.[8] It was positioned by the shore, on what is now Hamble Common, to the south of the village of Hamble-le-Rice. It was located at one end of an old Iron Age ditch—the area had previously been occupied during this period, when a promontory hillfort, Hamble Common Camp, was built just along the coast.[9] Construction took place between 1542 and 1543, but the fortification may not have been fully completed until after Henry's death in 1547.[10]

The castle comprised a tall, square

sling.[11] The lighter guns would probably have been placed on the roof of the keep, with two heavy weapons lower down and the remainder on the external gun platform.[8] It also held handguns, bows and hand weapons for close defence.[11]

William Paulet, later the Marquess of Winchester, was appointed as Keeper and Captain of the castle in 1547, being paid £19 each year to perform the role; his garrison included a master gunner, a porter and six soldiers.[12][a] Paulet also controlled Netley Castle, just along the coast.[12]

By 1559 the garrison had decreased slightly, comprising a captain, two gunners and four soldiers.

gentleman usher at the Elizabethan court, was appointed keeper of the castle in 1577. He was instructed to employ a porter, a master gunner, and six soldiers or gunners.[14]

The castle was still operational in 1623, but it was decommissioned by

Parliamentary forces in 1642 during the English Civil War.[8] The site has been heavily affected by coastal erosion—the local shoreline was retreating by 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) a year during the 1990s—and only a few parts of the masonry and earthworks can still be seen in the 21st century.[15] The remains of the castle and the surrounding common land are protected under UK law as a scheduled monument.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Comparing early modern costs and prices with those of the modern period is challenging. £19 in 1547 could be equivalent to between £9,900 and £4 million in 2014, depending on the price comparison used. 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.[13]

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. ^ a b c "St Andrew's Castle", Historic England, archived from the original on 24 September 2015, retrieved 2 August 2015
  9. ^ "Extract from English Heritage's Record of Scheduled Monuments" (PDF), DEFRA, retrieved 2 August 2015
  10. ^ "St Andrew's Castle", Historic England, archived from the original on 24 September 2015, retrieved 2 August 2015; Kenyon 1979, p. 75
  11. ^ a b c d Kenyon 1979, p. 75; Saunders 1989, p. 50; "St Andrew's Castle", Historic England, archived from the original on 24 September 2015, retrieved 2 August 2015
  12. ^ a b Scard 2014, p. 130
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ J. Collingwood & J. Trier, Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1575-1578 (London: HMSO, 1982), p. 304 no. 2239.
  15. ^ "St Andrew's Castle", Historic England, archived from the original on 24 September 2015, retrieved 2 August 2015; Spurgeon & Brooke 1996, p. 122
  16. ^ Spurgeon & Brooke 1996, p. 122

Bibliography

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