East Tilbury Blockhouse, Coalhouse Point

Has been described as a Certain Artillery Fort

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameEast Tilbury Blockhouse, Coalhouse Point
Alternative NamesTylbery; the old Blockhouse; Tilberie Nesse
Historic CountryEssex
Modern AuthorityThurrock
1974 AuthorityEssex
Civil ParishEast Tilbury

The site of a Henrician blockhouse built between 1539 and 1541 at East Tilbury, Essex by Henry VIII as part of his chain of coastal defences. East Tilbury Blockhouse was one of five blockhouses built along this stretch of the river Thames to defend the approach to London and the dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford; the others being at Tilbury, Higham, Milton and Gravesend. East Tilbury and Higham were located at a narrow point in the river to allow for cross-fire. The blockhouse was disarmed in 1553 and was in ruins on the foreshore by 1735. It is possible that the remains of the blockhouse lie beneath the mud. East Tilbury Blockhouse was constructed from stone and timber robbed from St Margaret's Chantry nearby. It comprised of a simple gun tower with splayed embrasures for cannon, with guns in bombproof casemates and in open emplacements on the roof. It may have had a small defended enceinte or earthen rampart with guns in front. This location continued to be of strategic importance and the Victorian Coalhouse Fort was built just inshore from the Henrician blockhouse. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Trial trench in 1984 did not locate fort. Depicted on the 1588 Thamesis Descriptio map as a D shaped feature with 6 artillery pieces. It may be the Thamesis Descriptio map was a proposal for defences rather than actual defenses and the Henrician blockhouse may not have been reused in 1588.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceTQ691761
Latitude51.4516105651855
Longitude0.435779988765717
Eastings569100
Northings176100
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Harrington, Peter, 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII (Oxford: Osprey) p. 8, 28, 38, 44, 56, 61
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 41
  • Miles, David, 2001, Tilbury Fort (London: English Heritage)
  • Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton)
  • Saunders, A.D., 1985, Tilbury Fort Essex (London: English Heritage) p. 4
  • Smith, V.T.C., 1985, Defending London's river
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 147
  • Bennett, D., 1977, A handbook of Kent's defences from 1540 until 1945

Journals

  • Saunders A., 1960, 'Tilbury Fort and the development of artillery fortification in the Thames Estuary' Antiquaries Journal Vol. 40 p. 152
  • Powell, W.R., 1988, 'The medieval hospitals at East Tilbury and West Tilbury and Henry VIII's forts' Essex Archaeology and History Vol. 19 p. 154-8
  • Catton, J.P.J. (Priddy, D.A. (ed)), 1986, 'Excavations in Essex, 1983-4' Essex Archaeology and History Vol. 16 p. 127
  • Smith, V.T.C., 1974, 'The Artillery Defences at Gravesend' Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 89 p. 141-62 online copy

Guide Books

  • Smith, V.T.C., 1985, Coalhouse Fort and the artillery defences at East Tilbury: a history and guide (Coalhouse Fort Project)

Primary Sources

  • Thamesis Descriptio Anno 1588 online copy
  • Gairdner, J. and Brodie, R.H. (eds), 1896, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII Vol. 15 p. 131 no. 323 online copy