St Catherines Castle

Has been described as a Certain Artillery Fort

There are major building remains

NameSt Catherines Castle
Alternative Names
Historic CountryCornwall
Modern AuthorityCornwall
1974 AuthorityCornwall
Civil ParishFowey

St Catherine's Castle was built by Henry VIII between 1538 and 1540 as part of his network of coastal defences constructed due to heightened threats of attack from France and Spain in the immediate aftermath of the Reformation. It is situated on the tip of a rocky headland, St Catherine's Point, at the entrance to the River Fowey estuary on the south coast of Cornwall. The two-storey blockhouse has a D-shaped plan and was built on a prepared platform levelled into the rock with slate rubble stone walls up to 1.35 metres thick. On the ground floor are three almost semi-circular gun ports, a fireplace in the south west wall and a small guard chamber within the entrance. The first floor has five narrow windows with semicircular heads and a winder stair, which originally ascended to a former parapet walk. In 1786 the blockhouse held six canons but in 1815, following the Napoleonic Wars, it had been abandoned. The curtilage of the blockhouse, as defined by its curtain wall, was refurbished in 1855 to form a gun battery during the Crimean War. A levelled platform, just below the blockhouse, accommodated a Crimean War battery. In 1887, this was armed with two 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns manned by Artillery Volunteers and retained as a practice battery. By the end of the 19th century it was obsolete and subsequently abandoned. It was again modified and re-armed in 1940 as an emplacement in a more extensive Second World War gun battery occupying St Catherine's Point. This included a 4.7-inch naval gun, a large concrete protective shelter, an ammunition store and concrete pillbox. (PastScape)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

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 ReferenceSX118509
Latitude50.328239440918
Longitude-4.64468002319336
Eastings211870
Northings50930
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Harrington, Peter, 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII (Oxford: Osprey) p. 10 (mention)
  • Campbell, Adele (ed), 2004, Heritage Unlocked; Guide to free sites in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (London: English Heritage) p. 42-5
  • Duffy, Michael, 1999, 'Coastal Defences and Garrisons 1480-1914' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p. 158-60
  • Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 20
  • Saunders, Andrew, 1997, Channel Defences (London; Batsford/English Heritage) p. 117
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 18
  • Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 73
  • Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 289
  • Price, M. and H., 1980, Castles of Cornwall (Bossiney Books) p. 12-6
  • Morley, B., 1976, Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence (London; HMSO)
  • O'Neil, B.H.St.J., 1960, Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England (Oxford: Claredon Press) p. 45
  • Braun, Hugh, 1936, The English Castle (Batsford)
  • Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p. 112-3 (King writes most misleading)
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 3 online copy
  • Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol. 3 Cornwall online transcription
  • Buck, Samuel and Nathaniel, 1774, Buck's Antiquities (London) Vol. 1 p. 23
  • Grose, Francis, 1787, Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol. 8 p. 15-6 online copy

Antiquarian

  • Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England  (Sutton Publishing) p. 76, 77, 86
  • Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 203, 204, 323 online copy

Journals

  • Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 138 p. 219
  • Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Early Gunports' Fort Vol. 4 p. 83
  • Saunders, A.D., 1973, 'The coastal defences of Cornwall' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 130 p. 233