East Cowes Castle was a Device Fort, built between 1539 and 1542 to protect Cowes Harbour and the River Medina on the Isle of Wight. It was quickly abandoned and has been lost, probably due to coastal erosion.
History
In 1533 Henry broke with Pope Paul III in order to annul the long-standing marriage to his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and remarry. Catherine was the aunt of King Charles V of Spain, who took the annulment as a personal insult. As a consequence, France and the Empire declared an alliance against Henry in 1538, and the Pope encouraged the two countries to attack England. An invasion of England now appeared certain; that summer Henry made a personal inspection of some of his coastal defences, which had recently been mapped and surveyed: he appeared determined to make substantial, urgent improvements.
Henry VIII gave instructions through Parliament in 1539 that new defences were to be built along the coasts of England, beginning a major programme of work that would continue until 1547. The order was known as a “device”, which meant a documented plan, instruction or schema, leading to the fortifications later becoming known as the “Device Forts”. The initial instructions for the “defence of the realm in time of invasion” concerned building forts along the southern coastline of England, as well as making improvements to the defences of the towns of Calais and Guisnes in France, then controlled by Henry’s forces. Commissioners were also to be sent out across south-west and south-east England to inspect the current defences and to propose sites for new ones.
East Cowes Castle was constructed as part of this work between 1539 and 1542. It probably comprised a circular bastion and a square tower, and was intended to protect Cowes Harbour and the River Medina, working in conjunction with Cowes Castle to the west of the river mouth. It was abandoned around 1546 to 1547 and fell into ruin. Nothing survives of the site, which was probably finally destroyed by coastal erosion.
At the end of the 18th century, the architect John Nash built a castellated country home nearby, which he also called East Cowes Castle; this building was destroyed in 1963.
Bibliography
- 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 0116708328.
- Hale, John R. (1983). Renaissance War Studies. London, UK: Hambledon Press. ISBN 0907628176.
- Harrington, Peter (2007). The Castles of Henry VIII. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781472803801.
- Morley, B. M. (1976). Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence. London, UK: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. ISBN 0116707771.
Attribution
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