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King James's and Landport Gates are two
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
gateways in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Original purpose
Earthen ramparts protecting the land side of the port containing munitions, international goods storage, warehouses, shops and homes were constructed in the 14th century which were strengthened by order of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
in the 16th.
[Lilley, H T ''Early Portsmouth Defences'' (1923), Charpentier, Portsmouth][Lloyd, D W ''Buildings of Portsmouth and Environs: A Survey of the Dockyard, Defences, Homes, Churches, Commercial, Civic and Public Buildings'' (1974) City of Portsmouth Council]
Four ornate gateways were originally access points to Portsmouth through the town walls. The majority of the town walls were demolished in 1860.
[
]
King James's Gate
King James's Gate was built in 1687, probably as a reconstruction of the older Point gate on the same site, to control access to Portsmouth from The Point. When the town walls were demolished the gate was moved to a pavement of St. Michaels Road. At a later, unknown, date it was moved again and is now roughly from its original position, forming part of the boundary of United Services Ground in Burnaby Road. During the moves, much of the original ornate stonework was purposefully sold or lost.
Landport Gate
Landport Gate was built in 1760 as a new main entry point to Portsmouth from the Dockyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
and growing community on the Common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
. It replaced the original main point of access at the end of the High Street. Unlike the majority of Portsmouth's defences, the gate is still in its original position.[Landport Gate ]
References
{{reflist
External links
Visitor information : English Heritage
English Heritage sites in Hampshire
History of Hampshire
Buildings and structures in Portsmouth
Tourist attractions in Portsmouth
Gates in England