Dartmouth Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Clinging to a rocky point at the mouth of the Dart, Dartmouth Castle has guarded one of the busiest ports in south-west England for more than six centuries. The site brings together several periods of fortification: the remains of a late 14th-century enclosure, a late 15th-century artillery tower, gun platforms from the following centuries and a Victorian battery, not forgetting St Petroc's Church nestled among the defences. The centrepiece is the gun tower begun around 1481 and completed around 1493–1494, often presented as the oldest coastal fort in Britain designed specifically for artillery. Its seven rectangular gunports, opening just above the water, crossed their fire with Kingswear Castle on the opposite bank, while a chain stretched across the estuary could bar the passage to enemy ships. Taken by the Royalists in 1643 and then by Fairfax in 1646, and rearmed up to the Second World War, the castle is now managed by English Heritage. Visitors discover guardrooms, guns and casemates, as well as an exceptional panorama over the estuary, ideally reached by the small ferry from Dartmouth quay.