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Darmouth Castle occupies a rocky promontory overlooking the Dart estuary. It was one of a chain of castles built by Henry VIII as defence against possible French invasion. It was designed to be fully equipped with artillery and is in fact the earliest castle of this nature to survive in England. To strengthen harbour protection a chain stretched from Dartmouth Castle to Kingswear Castle on the opposite side of the river.
The castle was built to fit into the shape of the rock with square and round towers standing next to each other. It saw action during the Civil War when it was held by the Royalists for three years. Eventually the town was captured by the Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Royalists surrendered the castle to him the following day.
From then on the castle led a seemingly quiet existence until the Second World War, when a gun shelter was added to strengthen defences against the threat of German invasion.
Today, the castle set against the banks of the Dart, presents a romantic picture from long ago, but it is easy to see from the number of windows and slits for muskets, what a powerful place it would have been should invasion have occurred.
in the county of Devon
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in the county of Devon
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