Yarmouth Castle

The last coastal fort built by Henry VIII, Yarmouth Castle was built shortly 1547 after a French force had sailed into the Solent and landed on the Isle of Wight, safe from the guns and forts on the mainland. The local militia defeated the French, but a weakness in the island's defences had been revealed and a castle was then soon constructed at Yarmouth.

Yarmouth Castle does not share the same design as Henry's other coastal forts, with their semicircular bastions fronting a higher, central tower; instead Yarmouth is a simple square with no central tower. The north and west sides are washed by the sea and the east and south sides were protected by a moat.

There is a single 'arrow-head' bastion on the southeast corner, the first example of its kind in Britain. The castle was completed by 1547, but did not remain unchanged for long. Within a few decades the northern half of the courtyard was filled with earth to form a large gun battery and domestic buildings were constructed in the southern half leaving just a narrow passage between.

Towards the end of the 17th century the moat was filled in and a house, now the George Hotel, was built on the east side. The main entrance to the castle, which had been on this side, was moved to the south. The fort never saw action but was garrisoned until 1885.