TUDOR CASTLES

 

 

Following Henry VIII's break with Rome and the threat of invasion from Catholic powers, a series of castles was built from the Thames estuary to Cornwall; there is only one such castle in Sussex.

View of Camber Castle

 

Camber Castle.

Near Winchelsea. Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission. All the Henrician castles were designed to make good use of cannon. They are all symmetrical in plan with a pattern of lobes forming a series of gun platforms around a central tower. Their massive nature was designed to withstand enemy shot and they were essentially elaborate gun platforms with only basic accommodation. Traditional features such as moats, drawbridges and portcullises were included.

 

Most were built in the 1540s, but Camber was started in 1510 and only remodelled later. It was built to guard the river Rother, but the build-up of shingle had made the castle useless when it was dismantled in 1642; it now lies over a mile from the sea.

 

The castle is undergoing extensive restoration by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission and at present is not open to the public.

Camber castle from the air

 

 

 

 

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