Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles
Devon, England (11 castles)
Henry VIII Gun Fort
Not complete but much survives
Only open at certain times
Used as a gun fort rather than a place of residence.
Kingswear Castle is located low on the rocks on the eastern is of the habour entrance and consists of a small rectangular block and a later, smaller round tower. Kingswear was adapted by King Henry VIII to house canons. Over time this smaller castle became less important. Dartmounth Castle is the larger of the two and was orginally build in the late fourteenth century. It was improved upon in around 1481 to house guns that could overlook the entrance to Dartmouth harbour. It consists of a large square tower with a lookout turret on the top. Beside the square tower is a round tower from which a chain was attached to the round tower at Kingswear on the other side of the harbour entrance. This chain was raised during the night to guard against enemy ships entering unseen.
The castles were held by the the Royalist supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War but were captured by Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1646.
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Timeline
1470
May
After their treachery had been uncovered, the Earl of Warwick and Duke of Clarence fled to France. Warwick's plan was to get help from the French King. They took a ship with their immediate relatives and followers from either Exeter or Dartmouth. Isabella, Warwick's daughter, gave birth on the ship to a son, but he died shortly afterwards. When they reached Calais, the deputy-governor, John Lord Wenlock, refused them entry to the harbour and fired his guns at them. [1]
September 13
The Earl of Warwick landed at Dartmouth in Devon accompanied by the Lancastrian Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor, the half-brother of Henry VI. Edward was in the north at the time of Warwick's return and was turned upon by John Neville, Warwick's brother. Although John Neville had accepted Edward as King, Edward had removed John's title of Earl of Northumberland earlier in the year and given it to the Percys. John Neville advanced on Edward's position with a force much larger. [1]
1481
...
Work began on the castle guarding the Dartmouth harbour in Devon. A chain was employed that stretched across the entrance to prevent attacks. [2]
1643
Dartmouth Castle fell to Maurice after a short siege.
1646
January 19
Only days after Hopton had taken charge of the Royalist forces in the south-west, Fairfax attacked and took the castle at Dartmouth capturing many guns and many prisoners. [3]
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