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ST HELENS BULWARK

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The site of St Helen's Bulwark, built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1545 as part of his network of coastal defences to protect England from the threat of invasion. Very little is known about the fort but it was mentioned in an account of Henry VIII and Edward VI's military expenses between 1538 and 1552 and is mentioned on a Royal Survey of 1559. It was probably built before the French attack of 1545 in order to defend this safe anchorage point. In fact, St Helen's bulwark may well be the small earthen fort which was mentioned in the separate accounts of Sir John Oglander and Martin du Bellay, as being captured during the French attack on the Isle of Wight on 21st July 1545. This event and maybe even the fort itself, can be seen in the background of Cowdray's famous engraving of the French fleet's attack on Portsmouth on 19th July 1545.

The last mention of the castle was circa 1660 and a Victorian coastal battery was built on the same location in the 19th century. No remains of either fortification have survived today.

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