Brownsea Castle
Has been described as a Certain Artillery Fort
There are masonry ruins/remnants remains
| Name | Brownsea Castle |
| Alternative Names | Branksea; Poole; Brensey |
| Historic Country | Dorset |
| Modern Authority | Dorset |
| 1974 Authority | Dorset |
| Civil Parish | Studland |
Brownsea Castle, now a country house, was rebuilt on the site of a small Henrician coastal artillery fort or blockhouse, built between 1545-47 by Henry VIII as part of his network of coastal defences to protect against French and Spanish invasion. The fort was refortified during the Civil War by the Parliamentarians and was then bought and converted into a country house in 1726. In the mid-19th century the house was remodelled and a new Tudor style facade, gatehouse and pier built. This was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1897. Any remains of the original castle are now in the basement of the house, though sections of the later house reflect its original structure. Although nothing remains on the surface of the original Henrician blockhouse, its physical aspect can be interpreted from a 1597 map of Poole Harbour. It consisted of a square single-storey stone building surrounded on three sides by a moat with a hexagonal gun platform on the seaward side which was enclosed by a low wall. (PastScape)
Not scheduled
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law
Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SZ030876 |
| Latitude | 50.6883392333984 |
| Longitude | -1.95825004577637 |
| Eastings | 403050 |
| Northings | 87640 |
