Sandsfoot Castle
Sandsfoot Castle is the ruins of a fortress built by Henry VIII west of Weymouth in Dorset on the English south coast in the years after 1530. After the English Reformation , Henry VIII saw himself threatened by the Catholic part of Europe and built a number of fortresses to protect the country. Sandsfoot Castle and Portland Castle across from it secured the port of Portland .
The fortress was rectangular with two floors and a basement. It was aligned on a north-west / south-east axis, had a number of heavy artillery and was surrounded by a ditch and upstream fortifications .
The fortress was designed as a coastal defense position and was therefore not very well protected against attacks from land. During the English Civil War , the plant changed hands several times. There was a coin in its basement during the civil war and gave the complex a special meaning for both attackers and defenders.
Sandsfoot Castle was in a dangerous position due to the ongoing coastal erosion and was abandoned soon after the Civil War. Efforts are under way to preserve their remains and bring them back to the public in connection with the 2012 Olympic Games sailing competitions being held in Portland Harbor.
Web links
- History of Sandsfoot Castle
- Restoration hope for castle ruin . BBC News, December 21, 2009.
- Lottery cash for crumbling Sandsfoot Castle in Weymouth . BBC New ,. January 6, 2011.
literature
- HM Colvin: The History of the King's Works . Volume 4: 1485-1600. Part 2, 1982, ISBN 0-11-670832-8 .
- Peter Harrington: The castles of Henry VIII. Osprey, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-130-4 .
- BM Morley: Henry VIII and the development of coastal defense. HM Stationery Office, London 1976, ISBN 0-11-670777-1 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 35 ′ 42.8 " N , 2 ° 27 ′ 39" W.