The Device Forts, also known as Henrician castles and blockhouses, were a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the coast of England and Wales by
Henry VIII. They ranged from large stone
castles, to small
blockhouses and earthwork
bulwarks. Armed with
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, the forts were intended to be used against enemy ships before they could land forces or attack vessels lying in harbour. The castles were commanded by captains appointed by
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
, overseeing small garrisons of professional gunners and soldiers, who would be supplemented by local militia in an emergency. The Device programme was hugely expensive, costing a total of £376,000, much of it raised from the proceeds of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The fate of the Device Forts over the coming years varied. Some of the defences were left to deteriorate and were decommissioned only a few years after their construction. Others were kept in service and used during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...
, the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
and, upgraded with more modern artillery and defences, throughout the 19th century. By 1900, however, developments in guns and armour had made most of the Device Forts that remained in service simply too small to be practical in modern coastal defence. Despite being brought back into use during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, by the 1950s those fortifications still in use were considered redundant and finally decommissioned.
Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...
over the centuries had extensively damaged or completely destroyed some sites, but others have been restored and opened to the public as tourist attractions.
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16th-century fortifications
Device Forts
1540 establishments in England