Sandsfoot Castle, also known historically as Weymouth Castle, is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Weymouth, Dorset. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Weymouth Bay anchorage. The stone castle had an octagonal gun platform, linked to a residential blockhouse, and was completed by 1542 at a cost of £3,887. Earthwork defences were built around the landward side of the castle, probably in 1623. Sandsfoot saw service during the English Civil War, when it was held by Parliament and Royalists in turn during the conflict. It survived the interregnum but, following Charles II's restoration to the throne, the fortress was withdrawn from military use in 1665.
By the early 18th century, Sandsfoot was in ruins, its stonework taken for use in local building projects. The clay cliffs on which the castle had been built had always been unstable and subject to erosion. The castle's gun platform began to collapse into the sea and, by the 1950s, had been entirely destroyed. The ruins were closed to visitors on safety grounds, although civic gardens were planted alongside it in 1951. Repairs were undertaken between 2009 and 2012 at a total cost of £217,800, enabling the site to be reopened to the public. Historic England considers Sandsfoot to be "one of the most substantial examples" of the 16th-century blockhouses to survive in England.[1] The ruins were once again closed to visitors on safety grounds in January 2021.[2] It remains closed to the public as of August 2022[update].
^Historic England. "Sandsfoot Castle (1020062)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
^"Weymouth's Sandsfoot Castle shut after cracks appear". BBC News. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
SandsfootCastle, also known historically as Weymouth Castle, is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Weymouth, Dorset. It formed part of the...
SandsfootCastle Halt was a small railway station on the Portland Branch Railway between Weymouth and Portland in Dorset. Opened on 1 August 1932, it was...
centuries when, in the 16th century, King Henry VIII built Portland Castle and SandsfootCastle to defend the anchorage. Prompted by the expansion of the French...
closed 3 March 1952; Rodwell; opened 1 June 1870; closed 3 March 1952; SandsfootCastle Halt; opened 1 August 1932; closed 3 March 1952; Wyke Regis Halt; opened...
route of the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The section from near SandsfootCastle to Ferry Bridge is part of the South West Coast Path. The route follows...
of England: Pendennis and St Mawes Castles in Cornwall, East Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight and SandsfootCastle at Weymouth, Dorset 1543 – Lighthouse...
Drew, Joseph The Poisoned Cup: a quaint tale of old Weymouth and SandsfootCastle in the days of Queen Bess. First published in The Southern Times on...
the coast: Pendennis and St Mawes Castles in Cornwall, East Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight and SandsfootCastle at modern-day Weymouth, Dorset. Muster...
against any serious effort to take it. The harbour was well-protected by SandsfootCastle, but the town itself had little in the way of serious fortifications...
against enemy shipping, operating in partnership with its sister castle of Sandsfoot on the other side of the anchorage. During the English Civil War...
Nothe Fort Old Harry Rocks Osmington Mills Ringstead Bay Rufus CastleSandsfootCastle South West Coast Path, a long distance footpath St Aldhelm's Head...
landowner and MP, John Wadham of Catherston Leweston, who was Captain of SandsfootCastle in 1550 and Recorder of Lyme Regis in 1558. Primarily occupied with...
Cárdenas, Cuba to New York. Sara Germany The ship was driven ashore near SandsfootCastle, Dorset. She was on a voyage from Riga, Russia to Bridport, Dorset...
resumed her voyage. Unnamed United Kingdom The fishing smack foundered in the English Channel off SandsfootCastle, Dorset with the loss of both crew....
24 fighting bills; 14 Moorish pikes; an engine for mounting ordinance. Sandsfoot Fortress, under Captain Robert Coines; 4 culverins; 4 iron slings; 5 bases;...
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