LYMDENS BULWARK

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Blockhouse, probably built in 1417, bastion added in the C16th. Position shown as a mound on a C17th plan. No physical evidence found.

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(Area SZ 626992). A wooden tower was erected opposite the Round Tower (SZ 69 NW 1) probably in the early part of the 15th c to hold the westend of a chain-boom across the harbour mouth, the east end being held by the Round Tower. (1)

No trace. Exact siting not ascertained, but presumably under Fort
Blockhouse. (2)

The earliest mention of a blockhouse is in 1417. Until ca.1540 it was
probably the only fortification on the West side of the harbour, but
in 1540, four garrison lists mention the `Bulwark of Mr.Spert's
making at Gosportside and the blockhouse'. Robert Lymden was in
charge of the Bulwark in 1544. From C16th maps, Lymden's Bulwark
appears to have been a circular keep surrounded by a circular wall.
In a map of about 1585 the Bulwark is described as being old and decayed and by the early-mid C17th it was marked on maps as a
mound. (3)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) General reference

Fortifications in Old Portsmouth 1968 30 (A Corney)

( 2) Field Investigators Comments

F1 ASP 22-JAN-69

( 3) General reference

Portsmouth Papers No 30 The Western Defences of Portsmouth Harbour 1400-1800 Dec 979 8-10 (G H Williams)

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Fort Blockhouse, a coastal battery rebuilt in 1708 from a chain tower of circa 1421 and a battery of 1667. It was again rebuilt in the mid 19th centur...

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The defences for Portsmouth were under construction between 1421 and 1424 but by 1539 they were so decayed that new ramparts had to be thrown up. Thes...

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