Sharpenrode Bulwark was a Device Fort near Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight. Built between 1545-47, the site saw only brief service and was mostly rebuilt in 1587.
History
In 1533, King Henry VIII 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. After the initial invasion scare, Henry moved back onto the offensive in Europe in 1543, allying himself with Spain against France once again. In 1545, French forces briefly raided the Isle of Wight.
As a result, Sharpenrode Bulwark as constructed to protect the Needles Passage that led to the harbour of Yarmouth, on the west side of the Isle of Wight, between 1545 and 1547. It was an earthen fort, comprising a square blockhouse, 37 ft (11.3 m) across and 8 ft (2.4 m) high, with a gun port to the front, and two angular bastions to its landward side. Its design expressed some early Italianate concepts.
By 1557 it was badly decayed, and it was extensively rebuilt in 1587. In the 1850s, Fort Victoria was constructed over the site.
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.
- Essex County Council. (2006) Extensive Urban Survey – Essex: Historic Towns Assessment Report. Essex, UK: Essex County Council.
- 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.
- Saunders, Andrew (1989). Fortress Britain: Artillery Fortifications in the British Isles and Ireland. Liphook, UK: Beaufort. ISBN 1855120003.
Attribution
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