Dartmouth Castle

(read on for )

Dartmouth Castle

Dartmouth, on the beautiful estuary of the River Dart, was a flourishing port from the twelfth century. When the Hundred Year War made legitimate trading difficult, the inhabitants turned to piracy to boost their profits. Their unfortunate targets were the ports across the Channel. In 1404, the Bretons land in force and attempted to sack the town in revenge, but the inhabitants drove them off with great loss to themselves. According to French sources a second attempt was more successful. Dartmouth Castle is actually a mile southeast of the town, at a point where the estuary narrows.

A fortification first rose here about 1388 in response to the threat of invasion from France. It was built at the instigation of the mayor, John Hawley, and is interesting as the earliest example of a fort built by a municipal authority as opposed to the private castle of an individual. It was a simple affair, consisting of a curtain with circular towns cutting off the landward approach to the headland. A tall piece of curtain and one shattered tower can be seen on the high ground overlooking the defenses. In view of the primitive artillery of the day it is difficult to see how this fortification could have interfered with any ships. It was also overlooked by much higher ground. Perhaps for these reasons it soon fell into disuse.

The tower, which now forms the focal point of the castle crowns the rocks on the edge of the headland. It looks like two connected towers, one square and one oval. In fact, the original design was for a freestanding oval tower and the most prominent square portion is an afterthought, but there is no internal division between the two. The splayed gun ports provided a degree of flexibility for cannon fire, which was hitherto unknown. They lie in the rock-cut basement.

 

 
Translate Page Into German Translate Page Into French Translate Page Into Italian Translate Page Into Portuguese Translate Page Into Spanish Translate Page Into Japanese Translate Page Into Korean

More Articles

 

 

Search This Site

 

Related Products And FREE Videos



 

More Articles


Fun Wedding Music Activities

... groom out on the dance floor. Now, if this is a very large and very elegant wedding, this option might not work since there is certain decorum to maintain, but for a casual, fun, family-centered wedding some of these games can be fun. If guests want to "call out" the wedding couple onto the dance floor, ... 

Read Full Article  


Bridal Accessories For A Fairy Tale Wedding

... wedding. The bridal accessories will include some great fairy tale wedding favors. If you are planning a fairy tale wedding such as Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, you want to create the scene from the fairly tale. To do this, you might want to hire a designer to set the stage for the fairly tale. If you ... 

Read Full Article  


Taking Your Italian Vacation In Tuscany

... Val d'Orcia and the square of the Cathedral of Pisa which is famous for its leaning tower. The historic centers of the cities you may visit on your Tuscan Italian vacation are protected sites mainly for their magnificent architecture. The Duomo is a cathedral in Siena that represents great Italian Romanesque ... 

Read Full Article