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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 →
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.
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.
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).
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in the UK — drawing on scheduled monument data, Domesday records, Roman heritage, PAS finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Hurst Castle and lighthouse