Scheduled Monuments›England›Hurst Castle and lighthouse

Hurst Castle and lighthouse

England
List entry 1015699
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1015699
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
4.11 hectares
Grid reference
SZ 31663 89733
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Hurst Castle is a coastal fortress built by Henry VIII between 1541 and 1544 on a shingle spit extending into the Solent off the Hampshire coast near Milford-on-Sea. The castle comprises a central circular keep surrounded by lower artillery bastions, exemplifying early Tudor military architecture designed to mount coastal defence against French and Imperial threats. The site also incorporates a lighthouse, added in the nineteenth century to serve maritime navigation. The castle remained in military use through subsequent centuries, including during the English Civil War and the Napoleonic Wars, and saw further modifications and garrison activity into the modern period.

Hurst Castle and lighthouse is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1015699. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Hurst Castle and lighthouse?

Hurst Castle is a coastal fortress built by Henry VIII between 1541 and 1544 on a shingle spit extending into the Solent off the Hampshire coast near Milford-on-Sea. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1015699.

Who is responsible for protecting Hurst Castle and lighthouse?

Hurst Castle and lighthouse 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 1015699.

What other scheduled monuments are near Hurst Castle and lighthouse?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Group of three barrows 110m north-east of Heatherdown (4.1 km), Round barrow 100m west of Old Coastguards (4.2 km), Two bowl barrows on High Down, 370m west of Tennyson's Beacon (4.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Hurst Castle and lighthouse

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Hurst Castle and lighthouse's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Group of three barrows 110m north-east of Heatherdown
4.1 km
Round barrow 100m west of Old Coastguards
4.2 km
Two bowl barrows on High Down, 370m west of Tennyson's Beacon
4.4 km
Long mortuary enclosure on Tennyson Down, 800m west of Freshwater Bay House
4.6 km
Bowl barrow on West High Down, 150m north of Roe's Hall
4.9 km
New Battery and High Down Test Site, The Needles
5.3 km
Lower Needles Point battery
5.3 km
Bowl barrow 200m south east of Freshwater Bay Golf Clubhouse: part of a round barrow cemetery on Afton Down
5.4 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Hurst Castle and lighthouse

Hurst Castle and lighthouse stands on Eocene claystone, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is claystone.

Domesday entry for Milford, Hampshire →
All Scheduled Monuments