Southsea Castle

Over a busy Easter weekend we went to a few places, Southsea Castle being the first on Good Friday.


Southsea Castle was built by Henry VIII during the frenetic buillding period of 1544. It's a star shape with pointed bastions, built right on the point of land by what is now Southsea common and dominates the approach to Portsmouth harbour. The walls are very thick, over two metres and was used by the military right up to the second world war. Indeed the army insisted on still being able to fly the flag over the castle when it was handed over to civilian powers in 1960. It has been extended over the centuries but the Tudor Heart beats fiercely and the exhibition in the Keep is mainly of it's construction and garrision during the Tudor period. Some of the


Climbing up a narrow stone stairway to the bastions, I was greeted by the sight of a huge cross channel ferry going to France passing so close by that I could have reached out and touched it. In fact the main shipping channel is only 200 yards off shore but the perspective is very deceiving.


It was here that Henry was standing during the naval battle with the French off Spithead in 1545 when he saw the Mary Rose sink. This scene is depicted in full on the Cowdray engraving, it shows Henry onshore and just the mast tops of the Mary Rose above the water with a few of the crew trying to swim for their lives. You can easily see the wreck bouy from the bastions about 400 yards offshore. The Mary Rose sank because she was turning about and her lower gunports were open, a sudden gust of wind keeled her over a bit more and water poured into the open gunports.


Last Friday the tide in the Solent was as high as I've ever seen it and the wind was driving the seas onshore. The waves were crashing over the prominade making walkers dash for safety. If the wind that day the ship sank was as anything like last week it's not too surprising that she keeled over.


More about our Easter weekend to follow.



http://www.tudorhistorytours.com/