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Calshot Castle is a sixteenth-century artillery fortress built by Henry VIII on a shingle spit projecting into the Solent near Southampton in Hampshire. Constructed around 1539 as part of the king's extensive coastal defence programme, the castle exemplifies the low, angular bastioned design developed to accommodate cannon and resist artillery bombardment. The structure comprises a central circular keep surrounded by lower artillery bastions, a distinctive configuration that prioritised firepower over the traditional vertical defences of medieval fortification. Calshot remained garrisoned throughout the Tudor and Stuart periods and continues to stand as a significant example of early modern military architecture, now managed as a scheduled monument.
Calshot Castle: a 16th century artillery castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014619. View the official record →
Calshot Castle is a sixteenth-century artillery fortress built by Henry VIII on a shingle spit projecting into the Solent near Southampton in Hampshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1014619.
Calshot Castle: a 16th century artillery castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1014619.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Promontory defined by an Iron Age linear earthwork, St Andrew's Castle and additional remains on Hamble Common (3.8 km), Row Down round barrow cemetery (5.9 km), Moated site, fishponds and associated settlement site, 200m west of Holbury Manor (6.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Calshot Castle: a 16th century artillery castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Calshot Castle: a 16th century artillery castle stands on Eocene claystone, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is claystone.