Sandown Castle, Isle of Wight

Has been described as a Certain Artillery Fort

There are no visible remains

NameSandown Castle, Isle of Wight
Alternative NamesSandham Castle; Sandumffort
Historic CountryHampshire and the Isle of Wight
Modern AuthorityIsle of Wight
1974 AuthorityIsle of Wight
Civil ParishSandown

The first Sandown Castle was built between 1537 and 1540 and formed part of the defence scheme of the southern seaboard. It was of the usual Tudor form with a rear building and a gun platform towards the sea and was erected on land now overflowed by the sea; it had a landing-stage, as in 1618 timber was supplied for mending the pier and planking the platform. As it was built too near the shore, the sea began to encroach and undermine its walls, which by the beginning of the 17th century had got into a ruinous state. In 1627 Charles I promised to have it repaired, but nothing was done till 1631, when it was taken down by Sir John Oglander, and a new fort built nearer Yaverland to the north (VCH)

Although nothing remains of the castle, its possible foundations can be seen at low tide. Plans and accounts of the castle have survived which provide a good indication of the castle's form. It consisted of a square keep with a curtain wall with two bastions on the landward side and a semi-circular bastion on the seaward which would have supported the main guns. One of the landward bastions was square and the other was angled and was one of the earliest examples of this Italianate style of defences to be used in England. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

This was the earliest fort in England to have been built with an arrow-headed bastion. The entrance in the north-west curtain was covered by an adjacent square keep surrounded by an open courtyard. The seaward face of the fort was a coast battery with a rounded bastion in the centre, although this may have been furnished with a pointed salient to deflect shot, as at Kingston upon Hull.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSZ605846
Latitude50.6566886901855
Longitude-1.1469099521637
Eastings460500
Northings84600
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Harrington, Peter, 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII (Oxford: Osprey)
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 67
  • Saunders, Andrew, 1997, Channel Defences (London; Batsford/English Heritage) p. 47
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 109
  • Barron, W.G., 1985, The Castles of Hampshire and Isle of Wight (Paul Cave) p. 42
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 195
  • Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 550-555
  • Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Vol. 5 p. 157 online transcription
  • Adams, W.H.D., 1884, Isle of Wight: its History, Topography and Antiquities (London : T. Nelson and Sons) p. 200 online copy
  • Worsley, Richard, 1781, The History of the Isle of Wight (London) p. xc-xci (inventory 1547)

Antiquarian

Journals

  • Kenyon, J.R., 1983, 'The state of the fortifications in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in 1623' Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Vol. 39 p. 137-143 esp. 139-140
  • Kenyon, J.R., 1979, 'An aspect of the 1559 survey of the Isle of Wight: The State of all the Queenes maties Fortresses and Castelles' Post-Medieval Archaeology Vol. 13 p. 61-77 esp. 65-67
  • Jones, J.D., 1968, 'The Building of a Fort at Sandown, Isle of Wight, 1632-1639' Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol. 6.3 p. 166-188

Primary Sources

Other