A 13th century castle with the remains of an octagonal keep, inner and outer moat, and traces of an extramural settlement, situated on the site of an earlier, moated, castle. Used as a hunting lodge by the 15th century. Flint walls with stone dressings. Excavations during 1981-85 located an inner moat, and uncovered remains of […]
Netley Castle
A Henrician artillery castle, built in 1542-5 by Sir William Paulet for Henry VIII to guard the anchorage at Southampton Water. It was built as part of the network of coastal defences to defend England against the threat of French and Spanish invasion. It was maintained and garrisoned until at least 1626-7 and possibly as […]
Merdon Castle
Earthwork remains of an Iron Age univallate hillfort and a Medieval motte and bailey which reused the former site. The Medieval motte and bailey is said to have been built in 1129-38 and destroyed in 1156. Field Survey between 1993 and 1994 by RCHME recovered further evidence of earthworks and buried foundations suggesting that the […]
Hurst Castle
One of the most advanced of the artillery fortresses built by Henry VIII: used as a prison for eminent 17th-century captives, and later strengthened during the 19th and 20th centuries. It commands the narrow entrance to the Solent. Hurst is one of the larger blockhouses, or forts, erected in 1539 round the S. coasts of […]
Christchurch Castle
The remains of Christchurch Castle include parts of the mound-top keep, and more unusually the 12th-century riverside chamber block or ‘Constable’s House’. This very early example of domestic architecture includes a rare Norman chimney. The estuary on the W. end of Christchurch Bay receives the waters of two streams, the Stour and the Avon, both […]