Hurst Castle

Walmer Castle was built during the reign of Henry VIII as a response to the perceived threat of invasion from Europe. While no such invasion ever came, the castle did later see action when it was besieged by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil Wars. Over the centuries, the castle’s military use slowly declined, and it was gradually transformed into the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Early in 1539, Pope Paul III arranged a treaty between Francis I, king of France, and Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, ending years of hostility and fighting. He urged them to invade England with their formidable armies to punish Henry VIII. The English king had outraged the pope and many leaders in Europe over his divorce from Katherine of Aragon, his taking over control of the Church in England, and his destruction of the monasteries, taking their lands and revenues. Henry’s response to this threat was swift, with nationwide preparations for war. At Walmer, he ordered the building of an artillery castle, one of many along the English coast, equipped with big guns to sink enemy warships and to fire on troops attempting to land on the beaches nearby. Completed in 1540, Walmer Castle formed part of a defensive barrier 2.7 miles long, from Walmer to Deal and Sandown, where Henry had similar castles built. Between the three castles were four other gun forts, made of earth and timber, all linked by a defensive bank and ditch. No invasion took place but a small garrison at Walmer Castle, under the command of a captain, continued to guard the coast in the Tudor and Stuart eras. The castle guns protected the Downs, an offshore anchorage where hundreds of warships and merchant craft often sought refuge. At anchor, they were vulnerable to enemy warships and pirates. The garrison was on high alert during another invasion scare in 1567 and during the Spanish Armada crises of 1587–8 and 1596–7. War eventually did come to Walmer, in 1648. With the First English Civil War over, King Charles I was a prisoner of Parliament, but rival factions had different views over his fate. In Kent, a rebellion broke out in support of the king. Sailors from the English navy in the Downs captured Sandown, Deal and Walmer castles. When a Parliamentary force arrived to retake the castles, there was fierce fighting as each one came under siege. Despite attempts to relieve them by royalist troop landings from the sea, each castle was isolated. The soldiers in Walmer came under mortar bombardment and surrendered, realising that they had no hope against such destructive power. Within weeks, the other two castles were also recaptured. After the English Civil Wars, in the late 17th century England faced a new threat. The Dutch, by then a powerful seafaring and trading nation, clashed with England on the high seas in three major wars. Although the battles fought were mainly epic sea fights, Dutch forces did threaten the English homeland, and its fleet was active around the east and south-east coasts. In the Second Dutch War (1665–7), extra soldiers came into Walmer Castle and preparations were made to repel a Dutch landing. On 26 June 1667, with the Dutch fleet only a few miles away, men and boys from Deal went to Walmer Castle to help prepare defences. This included digging up and piling turf on the ramparts to absorb the impact of incoming cannon shot. Fortunately for Walmer, when an attack came, it was along the river Medway up to Chatham. From that time and throughout the ‘long 18th century’ (1688–1815) England (and Britain from 1707) was more often at war than not. Conflict was with an old rival, Spain, and increasingly also with France. This ensured that Walmer had a continuing military role in watching over the Downs, where the anchorage became ever more important. Until the early 18th century, the garrison was usually 19 men, but larger in times of tension or war. A position in the garrison depended on a recommendation from an i