Netley Castle is a former artillery fort constructed in either 1542 or 1544 by Henry VIII in the village of

Netley Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the R ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, and it defended

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

near

the Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

. The castle included a central, stone keep with two flanking gun platforms and was garrisoned by ten men. It was decommissioned 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 ...

and by 1743 it was overgrown and in ruins. In the 19th century the property was gradually converted into a private house, being extended in a

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

, complete with octagonal towers. Between 1939 and 1998 it was used as a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

, until the high costs of maintenance led to its closure. Following an archaeological survey, it was then converted into nine residential flats. It is protected under UK law as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

16th–17th centuries

Netley Castle was built as a consequence of international tensions between England,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

in the final years of the reign of King Henry VIII. Traditionally

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 ...

had left coastal defences to the local lords and communities, only taking a modest role in building and maintaining fortifications, and while France and the Empire remained in conflict with one another, maritime raids were common but an actual invasion of England seemed unlikely. Modest defences, based around simple blockhouses and towers, existed in the south-west and along the Sussex coast, with a few more impressive works in the north of England, but in general the fortifications were very limited in scale. Plan of Netley Castle

In 1533, Henry then broke with Pope

Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

in order to annul the long-standing marriage to his wife,

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

and remarry. Catherine was the aunt of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

, the Holy Roman Emperor, and he took the annulment as a personal insult. This resulted in France and the Empire declaring an alliance against Henry in 1538, and the Pope encouraging the two countries to attack England. An invasion of England appeared certain. In response, Henry issued an order, called a " device", in 1539, giving instructions for the "defence of the realm in time of invasion" and the construction of forts along the English coastline. Netley Castle was built next to

between the mouths of the

Hamble Hamble may refer to: * The River Hamble in Hampshire, England * Hamble aerodrome on the banks of the River Hamble. ** Hamble-Warsash Ferry, a ferry service on the River Hamble * Hamble-le-Rice, a village on the river Hamble, close to the city of Sou ...

and Itchen rivers, south-west of the remains of

Netley Abbey (Happy Place), Lieu-Saint-Edward, Letley , order= Cistercians , established= 1239 , disestablished= 1536/7 , mother= Beaulieu Abbey , diocese= Diocese of Winchester , founder= Peter des Roches and Henry III , dedication= Virgin Mary and ...

. Netley Abbey had been recently dissolved by Henry, and material from the site was reused to build the castle. William Paulet, later the

Marquess of Winchester Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. It is the oldest of six surviving English marquessates; therefore its holder is considered ...

, was in charge of the construction, which took place in either 1542 or 1544 and Henry granted him various estates to pay for the support of the fort and its garrison.; The castle took the form of a central keep, across with deep

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s along the

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

s, and a gun platform on either side; its design resembled that at nearby

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

. It was initially garrisoned with two soldiers, six gunners and a porter, under the command of a captain. It was still garrisoned in the mid-1620s and was probably still in active service at the start of the

between the supporters of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1642. Captain Swaley, a Parliamentary naval commander, seized Netley at the end of that year and decommissioned it as a fortification. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

, the castle was restored to use, due to concerns about a potential Royalist invasion, but was abandoned as obsolete after the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of Charles II to the throne. By the time that

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

visited in 1734, the castle was overgrown and in ruins.

18th–20th centuries

William Chamberlayne inherited the castle in 1826 and built a crenellated tower on the south-east end of the property the following year, inspired by a proposal by the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

that the castle be made habitable. A description of the castle around this time suggested it stood "in the midst of a thicket of trees, on a little hill close to the beach" and formed "a striking object seen from the water". It became popular with artists, and J. M. W. Turner visited and sketched the castle and its new tower, probably in 1832. George Hunt leased the castle in 1841 and it was turned into a private house under the supervision of the architect George Guillame. Hunt remained at Netley until 1857, by when the castle had an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

overlooking the sea, and the battlements had been blocked in to allow the construction of a second storey to the building. George Sherriff leased the castle between 1868 and 1873, building a stone wall around the front of property. Sir Henry Crichton bought the castle in 1881, along with the surrounding gardens, orchards, pond and a boat house. The architect John Sedding remodelled the castle between approximately 1885 and 1890, creating a Gothic styled house, adding another storey and a new wing. After Crichton's death in 1922 his wife remained in the house until her death in 1936, when the property and the surrounding grounds were sold at auction.

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

bought the castle in 1939 and converted it into a

for elderly men; it passed into the control of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in 1948 and continued to be used as a nursing home. It proved expensive to maintain and the surrounding land was gradually sold off, until the Southampton University Hospital NHS Trust finally decided to close it in 1998.

21st century

Fairmist Limited, a firm of property developers, purchased Netley Castle in 2000 and converted it into nine private residential flats, at a cost of £1.7 million, during which process an archaeological survey was made of the property. It is protected under UK law as a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and a Grade II*

. The castle is now approximately across and tall, surrounded by of land. The castle comprises three wings, with the original 16th-century fort incorporated into the centre of the property.; The north wing is three storeys tall, decorated in a restrained

and has an octagonal turret on one corner. The central range is two storeys tall, with round corner turrets and battlements. The southern wing is two storeys in height, with elaborate Gothic detailing and another, larger octagonal tower. The castle features a substantial staircase, fitted with a musical organ, and a wood-panelled

billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table. (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be us ...

. Other buildings around the main castle include the converted boat house and a former ice house.

References

Bibliography