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EAST COWES CASTLE

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East Cowes Castle was an artillery fort built in 1539-42 by Henry VIII as part of his network of coastal fortifications to defend against the threat of French and Spanish invasion. In conjunction with West Cowes Castle, located on the other side of estuary mouth, it defended the entrance to the River Medina and Cowes Harbour. The fortification was abandoned around 1546-7 and was in ruins by the 17th century. No remains of the castle have survived; however the place where the castle stood still retains the name of Old Castle Point.

No details of the castle are known although from the size of its garrison and the amount spent on its construction it may have been similar to that of West Cowes Castle. Stone from the dissolved abbeys at Beaulieu and Quarr may have been used for its construction.

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(Area centred SZ51099653). There was a castle at East Cowes but it has long been totally demolished. The place still retains the name of OLD CASTLE POINT. (1)

Forts are mentioned by LELAND AT WEST COWES (SZ 49 NE 10) and East Cowes.(2)

The Castle at EAST COWES was erected by Henry VIII from the ruins of a religious house at EAST SHAMBLORD, not a vestige remains. (SZ59SW4) (3)

The fortification at EAST COWES was evidently only a horn work as it is not shown on SPEEDS map of 1610.(4)

There are no remains of this fortification at OLD CASTLE POINT. Its side may be some distance out in the SOLENT, as, before the modern sea-wall was built, erosion was probably rapid. (5)

(SZ51109656) Approx site. (6-7)

The construction of East Cowes Castle was begun in March/April 1539 and was probably not fully completed until 1542. It was originally conceived as a single defence work, but the plan was quickly adapted to include a second, larger, fort at West Cowes. (SZ 59 SW 10). Since the expenditure on its construction, and the size of the garrison, was roughly the same as for West Cowes Castle, the castle probably resembled that at West Cowes. The engineers may have used stone from the abbeys at Beaulieu and Quarr, and possibly from East Shamblord (SZ 59 SW 4) (3). It was abandoned c.1546-7, and was a ruin by the 17th century. (8)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) General reference

"Antiquities of England and Wales 1774.(Pages not numbered) (F. GROSE)

( 2) edited by William Page, F.S.A. 1912 The Victoria history of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, volume five

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)259

( 3) General reference

"Isle of Wight, Its History, Topography and Antiquities", 1884,96 (W.H.D.Adams).

( 4) General reference

"Architectural Antiquities of the Isle of Wight", 2, 107, (P.G.STONE) 1891

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 VJB 03-FEB-55

( 6) General reference

Carisbrooke Museum 6" (F.Morey 1912-25)

(7) Field Investigators Comments

F1 VJB 09-FEB-55

( 8) by H M Colvin ... [et al] 1982 The history of the King's Works, volume 4 : 1485-1660 (Part 2)

Page(s)535-539

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WEST COWES CASTLE
COWES

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The remains of the artillery castle at West Cowes. It was built in 1539-40 by Henry VIII as part of his network of coastal defences to defend England ...

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