Hurst Castle at the west end of The Solent
Hurst Castle in Hampshire on the south coast of England is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, built at the end of a long shingle spit at the west end of the Solent to guard the approaches to Southampton. Hurst Castle was sited at the narrow entrance to the Solent where the ebb and flow of the tides creates strong currents, putting would-be invaders at its mercy. Also known as a Henrician Castle, Hurst was built as part of Henry's chain of coastal defences to protect England during the turbulent times of his reign. Charles I was imprisoned here in 1648 before being taken to London to his trial and execution. The fort was modified throughout the 19th century, and two large wing batteries were built to house heavy guns. It was fortified again in World War II and then decommissioned. It is now owned by English Heritage and is open to the public Recommendations by the 1859 Royal Commission report, led to the castle being refortified, and two large wing batteries were built to house 30 heavy guns. In 1873 a new east wing was built and a new entrance to the castle was driven through the northeast bastion. The first lighthouse at Hurst was the Hurst Tower, sited to the south west of Hurst Castle, and lit for the first time on 29 September 1786. An additional and higher light - the High Lighthouse - was constructed in 1812. These lighthouses were dismantled and replaced by two new lighthouses built in the 1860s. The first was the "Low Light" built into the rear wall of the west wing of the castle, which was superseded by the adjacent iron lighthouse in 1911.
Size: 4612px × 3294px
Location: West Solent, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: battery, beach, castle, coast, coastal, defence, fort, fortress, henry, historic, hurst, seashore, seaside, shingle, solent, spit, tudor, viii, west
