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Sandsfoot Castle is a coastal artillery fort built by Henry VIII in the 1530s as part of his programme of national defence against foreign invasion. Constructed on the western side of Weymouth harbour in Dorset, the castle was designed with a distinctive bastioned plan to mount cannon and command the entrance to the anchorage. The fortress was garrisoned during the Tudor period and remained in military use through subsequent centuries, though it gradually declined in strategic importance as naval technology evolved. The castle's remains, now partially eroded by coastal processes, consist of flint and ashlar stonework and survive as a significant example of early modern military architecture.
Sandsfoot Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1020062. View the official record →
Sandsfoot Castle is a coastal artillery fort built by Henry VIII in the 1530s as part of his programme of national defence against foreign invasion. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1020062.
Sandsfoot 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 1020062.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Nothe Fort, tramway and searchlight battery at The Nothe (1.8 km), Portland Castle (3.2 km), Earl of Abergavenny (3.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Sandsfoot 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.
Sandsfoot Castle stands on Late Jurassic claystone, bedrock that formed in the Late Jurassic. The rock here is major:{claystone}, Minor{limestone,sandstone}.