At Weymouth, in Dorset, the remains of Sandsfoot Castle overlook the bay, facing Portland. This fort of Henry VIII, twin of its neighbour, guarded the anchorage of Weymouth; but, built too close to the edge of a fragile cliff, it was gradually carried off by the sea — a victim, like Camber, of geography more than of the enemy.
The lock of Weymouth Bay
Like Portland facing it, Sandsfoot was built as part of Henry VIII's Device programme, completed in 1541 for nearly £3,900. The two forts complemented each other: together, their guns crossed their fire over the channel, forbidding any enemy fleet access to the anchorage. Sandsfoot took the form of a two-storey blockhouse, with a gate tower on the land side and, on the sea side, an octagonal gun platform. Shortly after its building, the antiquary John Leland described it as 'a right goodlie and warlyke castle'.
An active fort, then devoured
Sandsfoot remained in service throughout the period: its garrison was raised to fifty men during the Armada crisis of 1588, and repairs were carried out in Jacobean times (1610-11), a survey of 1623 still recording ten iron cannon. But coastal erosion got the better of it: the cliff on which it was built gradually receded, causing part of the gun platform to collapse onto the beach. Now a consolidated ruin, it illustrates the fragility of coastal defences in the face of the sea. To see: the two-storey blockhouse with its land-side gate tower, the octagonal gun platform (partly collapsed), the south-west embrasure still visible.
Did you know?
Shortly after its building, the traveller John Leland — the great surveyor of Henry VIII's England — judged Sandsfoot 'a right goodlie and warlyke castle'. A few generations later, the sea proved this fine optimism wrong: as the cliff collapsed, part of the fort slid onto the beach. Of the military pride of 1541, there remains only a fine vestige at the edge of the void.
Notes
Sandsfoot Castle lies at Weymouth, Dorset, by the sea facing Portland; a consolidated ruin, a freely accessible public site (adjoining municipal gardens).
Quiz
- With which fort did Sandsfoot cross its fire?
- Portland Castle, facing it
- The Tower of London
- Deal Castle
- What did Sandsfoot undergo over time?
- Coastal erosion (partial collapse)
- A French bombardment
- A fire
- How did John Leland describe it?
- 'A right goodlie and warlyke castle'
- A worthless ruin
- A mere warehouse