Camber Castle

Camber Castle stands on a shingle spit near Icklesham, about 1.5 kilometres from the old ports of Rye and Winchelsea. Built in the 16th century by King Henry VIII, it was meant to guard the Sussex coast from French attack. The first structure was a small round tower finished in 1514, overlooking the Camber anchorage. In 1539 the king ordered a much larger fort, designed by the Moravian engineer Stefan von Haschenperg. The new plan added a central keep, four circular bastions and an entrance bastion, all made of stone and brick. The castle was equipped with 28 brass and iron guns and a garrison of 28 men under a captain. It saw brief service in 1545 when a French fleet raided the coast, but the harbour soon silted up and the coastline moved away. By the 17th century the fort was outdated and peace with France reduced its need. King Charles I closed it in 1637 and Parliamentary forces partly dismantled it during the civil war. The ruins became a popular picnic spot in the 18th and 19th centuries and were painted by J. M. W. Turner. After the Second World War the state took charge and English Heritage restored the fort between 1968 and 1994. Visitors now walk among the concentric walls and bastions, seeing the central keep and the remains of the entrance bastion. The site offers wide views across the flat marshland where the old anchorage once lay.