Portland Castle is an artillery fort constructed by

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 ...

on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, between 1539 and 1541. 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 Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, and defended the

Portland Roads Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...

anchorage. The fan-shaped castle was built from

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, with a curved central tower and a gun

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

, flanked by two angular wings. Shortly after its construction it was armed with eleven

artillery pieces 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 ...

, intended for use against enemy shipping, operating in partnership with its sister castle of Sandsfoot on the other side of the anchorage. 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 ...

, Portland was taken by the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

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 then survived two sieges before finally surrendering to

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 1646. Portland continued in use as a fort until the end of 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 ...

in 1815, when it was converted into a private house. Fresh concerns over invasion led to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

taking it over once again in 1869, but the castle was not rearmed and was instead formed accommodation for more modern neighbouring fortifications. During the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

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 opposin ...

s it was used as offices, accommodation and as an

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...

store. In 1949, the War Office relinquished control, and in 1955 it was opened to the public by the state. In the 21st century it is managed by

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 ...

and operated as a tourist attraction, receiving 22,207 visitors in 2010.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

consider the castle to form "one of the best preserved and best known examples" of King Henry's forts.

History

16th century

Portland 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 France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

in the final years of the reign of King

. 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. Basic defences, based around simple

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s and towers, existed in the south-west and along the

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

coast, with a few more impressive works in the north of England, but in general the fortifications were very limited in scale. In 1533, Henry 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. As a consequence, Lord Russell inspected the coast along an anchorage known as

, and concluded that two castles, Portland and Sandsfoot, should be constructed to protect it from naval attack. Work began that summer, with Oliver Lawrence acting as the royal paymaster for the project, and was completed by 1541, at a cost of £4,964. Thomas Mervin was appointed as captain, with a garrison of four gunners and two other men.; In 1545, Mervin was replaced by John Leweston, who also took on responsibilities as the Lieutenant of Portland, along with a larger garrison of 13 men, paid for out of the proceeds of the recent Dissolution of the Monasteries. A survey between 1547 and 1548 reported that the castle was equipped with one brass

demi-cannon The demi-cannon was a medium-sized cannon, similar to but slightly larger than a culverin and smaller than a regular cannon, developed in the early 17th century. A full cannon fired a 42-pound shot, but these were discontinued in the 18th centur ...

, two brass

demi-culverin The demi-culverin was a medium cannon similar to but slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a regular culverin developed in the late 16th century. Barrels of demi-culverins were typically about long, had a calibre of and could weigh up t ...

s, four breech-loading

portpiece A wide variety of gunpowder artillery weapons were created in the medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical pe ...

s and four slings; it also held eight hagbushes–a type of early

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

–along with twenty-three bows, twenty-nine bills and twelve pikes. The threat of a French invasion passed, and peace was declared in 1558. Attention shifted away from Portland, and a 1574 survey reported that the castle was in a poor condition, with similar concerns being repeated in 1583. Tensions with Spain grew and military attention focused on the threat to the south-west of England. War broke out in 1585, and £228 was spent on renovating Portland Castle. In 1596, the garrison still comprised a captain and 13 men.

17th–19th centuries

In the early 1600s, England was at peace with France and Spain and the coastal forts, included Portland, received little attention. A 1623 survey reported that the castle was equipped with three

culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The term is derived from the French "''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the ...

s, nine demi-culverins and a

saker Saker may refer to: * Saker falcon (''Falco cherrug''), a species of falcon * Saker (cannon), a type of cannon * Saker Baptist College, an all-girls secondary school in Limbe, Cameroon * Grupo Saker-Ti, a Guatemalan writers group formed in 1947 * ...

, but that the fortifications had suffered badly from sea erosion and required extensive repairs. Fourteen years later, the castle had 15 guns and a garrison of a captain and 12 men. When the

broke out in 1642, Portland was initially controlled by

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

forces. The castle was captured in 1643 by a group of

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

who gained access by pretending to be Parliamentary soldiers. As the war turned against the King in the south-west, Parliamentary forces besieged the castle for four months in 1644, and once again the following year. The castle finally surrendered to Vice-Admiral

William Batten Sir William Batten (1601 to 5 October 1667) was an English naval officer and administrator from Somerset, who began his career as a merchant seaman, served as second-in-command of the Parliamentarian navy during the First English Civil War, th ...

in April 1646. It is uncertain why the castle, which was not easily defensible on the landward side, proved so difficult to take; the historian Peter Harrington has suggested that its low-lying position may have made it difficult for Parliament to bombard it from the sea. 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 '' ...

, Portland Castle continued to be garrisoned and used a prison, with a unit of 103 men attached to it in 1651. It was used to defend the Portland Roads during the

First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic, ...

of 1653, seeing action in a three-day long naval battle between English and Dutch forces. When Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, he reduced the garrison to its pre-war levels but repaired the fortifications in the light of the continuing Dutch threat; in 1676 the castle was equipped with 16 guns. Portland Castle continued in use through the 18th century, primarily protecting vessels against

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s, including merchant vessels carrying stone from the local Portland quarries. Reports in 1702 and 1715 complained about the dilapidated condition of the fortification – the sea had washed away of its foundations – and the number of artillery pieces was reduced to seven. By 1779, the castle had a caretaker garrison of three men and eight guns, and reportedly had not been repaired in the previous 30 years. During the

, the castle's guns were increased to comprise six 24-pounder, six 12-pounders and two 9-pounder guns (10.9 kg, 5.4 kg and 4.1 kg respectively), but the fortification remained in a poor condition overall. Following the final defeat of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, the castle was disarmed and leased to John Manning, a Portland churchman, who converted it from a fortress into a private house. John's son, Charles Manning, took over the house in 1834 and continued to develop it. Among the Mannings' work was the conversion of an older house alongside the main castle, which had once housed the master gunner, into a grander property, known today as the Captain's House. In the late 1840s, the Portland Roads were converted into an artificial harbour through the construction of a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

, and new forts were built on the Verne heights and the sea front to protect it, although the structure of the old castle itself was left untouched by the growing complex of forts. Charles died in 1869 and, amid ongoing invasion fears, the War Office took over the castle again for use as accommodation for commissioned officers, including as a house for the adjutant of the

Verne Citadel Verne Citadel is a 19th-century citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a commanding position overlooking Portland Harbour, which it was built to defend. It later became ...

20th–21st centuries

In the early years of the 20th century, the War Office and the

Office of Works The Office of Works was established in the England, English Royal Household, royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of W ...

held discussions on how to manage the castle. In 1908, Portland was placed onto what was known as the Schedule C list, which meant that the Army would continue to use and manage the historic property, but with input on repairs from the Office of Works. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Portland Harbour became an important naval base and the castle was used an ordnance store. The castle became a military residence again in the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

years, and during the

it was used for accommodation and offices by British and US soldiers, with part of the castle used once again for storing ordnance. A concrete

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

, since demolished, was constructed alongside the castle early on in the war. After the conflict, Portland Castle was transferred to the Ministry of Works in 1949 and opened to the public in 1955.; The Ministry decided to present the interior as it might have looked in the 16th century and removed most of the 19th- and 20th-century additions and changes. The Captain's House and the adjacent gardens were used by the neighbouring

HMS Osprey Five ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Osprey'', after the bird of prey the Osprey: Ships * was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1797 and broken up in 1813. * was a 12-gun brig launched in 1844 and wrecked in ...

helicopter base until 1999, but with the facility's closure, this part of the fort was also opened to visitors, the house being turned into a visitor facility. In the 21st century the castle is operated by

as a tourist attraction, receiving 22,207 visitors in 2010. The main castle is protected under UK law as a Grade I

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 ...

, and the Captain's House as a Grade II* building.

Architecture

The heart of the castle is the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, across, comprising a central tower with two wings on either side and a gun

to the front, together forming an unusual, fan-shaped design over-looking the sea. This is surrounded by a walled courtyard, approximately , with two gun platforms on either side of the keep. The Captain's House occupies the western side of the courtyard, and the Governor's Garden lies beyond the eastern wall. The castle is entered through an outer gateway on the southern side, surmounted by Charles II's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. When first built, the castle would have held three tiers of artillery, two in the front battery and a third layer in the central tower. The keep was originally protected by a moat, since filled in, with a drawbridge, of which only the slots now survive. The castle could have been protected at short-range with

hand guns A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...

, although the

gunloop 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 for these were of an antiquated design for the period, and a moated earthwork, , was subsequently built to the rear of the castle to provide additional protection. The keep is two storeys high, built of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

considers it to form "one of the best preserved and best known examples" of the Henrician forts. In the centre of the ground floor is the octagonal great hall, now fitted with large Victorian windows, which would have originally providing living space for the garrison. Off the great hall are wings holding the gunners' quarters and the castle's kitchen, the latter equipped with a large, 16th-century fireplace. Running around the front of the keep is the gun room. This was originally a two-storey gun battery with embrasures for five guns on the ground floor and four more above on the first floor, with the southern end of the ground floor subdivided into four barrack rooms. The ground-floor embrasures were designed with vents to allow the smoke from the guns to escape. Both the wooden roof that formed the first-floor gun platform and the internal wooden partitions have been dismantled, however, and the chamber is now open to the air. It now houses a variety of 18th and 19th century cannons. On the first floor is the upper hall and the captain's chamber, used in the 16th century as a living and working space by the castle's commander, and converted into a dining room and a bedroom in the 19th century. On the opposite side to the captain's private chamber are two other bedrooms, possibly originally for the use of the castle's lieutenant. The current Governor's Garden was created in 2002 by the horticulturist Christopher Bradley-Hole, as part of a wider programme of work across English Heritage properties. The maritime-themed garden features circular designs, echoing those in the adjacent castle, and uses local Portland stone.

List of governors

* Captain John Arthur * Richard Channing * 1625–: Richard Rawleigh * 1628–: Edward Sydenham * 1644–1646 Sir Walter Hastings (Royalist) * 1646: Elias Bond * 1649–1650: Colonel

Edward Sexby Colonel Edward Sexby (or Saxby; 1616 – 13 January 1658) was an English Puritan soldier and Leveller in the army of Oliver Cromwell. Later he turned against Cromwell and plotted his assassination. Biography Sexby was born in Suffolk in 1616, ...

(Parliamentarian) * 1650–1653: Lt-Col.

George Joyce Cornet George Joyce (born 1618) was a low-ranking officer in the Parliamentary New Model Army during the English Civil War. Between 2 and 5 June 1647, while the New Model Army was assembling for rendezvous at the behest of the recently formed ...

* 1655–1658: John Pitson * 1658–?1660: George Pley * 1660–1679:

Humphrey Weld Sir Humphrey Weld (died 29 November 1610) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1608. Career Weld's family roots were in Eaton and Congleton, Cheshire. He was the fourth son of John Weld of Eaton and his wife Joanna FitzHugh. ...

(MP for Christchurch, 1661) * 1698–1702: Sir

Thomas Travell Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

(MP for Milborne Port, 1701–1715) * William Taunton * c.1714:

Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton (1661 – 21 January 1722) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Member of Parliament for Hampshire and a supporter of William III of Orange. Life He was the son of Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, and Mary S ...

** 1714–: Captain Richard Percy (Lieutenant-Governor) * 1728–1741: William Clapcott (

High Sheriff of Dorset The High Sheriff of Dorset is an ancient high sheriff title which has been in existence for over one thousand years. Until 1567 the Sheriff of Somerset was also the Sheriff of Dorset. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

, 1734) * 1741–: Sydenham Williams (

, 1740) * 1761–1788: John Taver * 1788–1791:

Gabriel Steward Gabriel Steward (1731–1792) was an East India Company official and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1778 and 1790. Steward was the son of Gabriel Steward and his wife Sarah Wrangham. His family was from Scotland and lived a ...

(died 1792) (MP for Weymouth, 1778–1790) * 1791–1807:

Gabriel Tucker Steward Gabriel Tucker Steward (c.1768-1836) was a Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolv ...

(son of above) (MP for Weymouth, 1794–1804) * 1805–1834 : John Penn(MP for Helston, 1802–1805) (last governor) Following the death of John Penn the post of Governor of Portland Castle was abolished.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

English Heritage's visitors' page
{{Governors and Constables in England and Wales Device Forts English Heritage sites in Dorset Tourist attractions in Dorset Buildings and structures in Dorset Grade I listed buildings in Dorset

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Historic house museums in Dorset Military and war museums in England