Hurst Castle

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Hurst Castle stands on a shingle spit at the western end of the Solent, where the strait narrows to barely a mile between the Hampshire mainland and the Isle of Wight. Built by Henry VIII in 1544 as part of his Device Forts programme, the castle was designed to control the western approach to the Solent and to work in conjunction with fortifications on the Isle of Wight shore. The original Tudor castle is a twelve-sided tower surrounded by a low curtain wall with semicircular bastions. In the 1860s and 1870s, massive armoured wings were added on either side as part of the Palmerston Fortification programme, turning Hurst into a formidable coastal battery mounting heavy guns. The castle continued in military use through both world wars and was not finally decommissioned until the 1950s. Hurst Castle is managed by English Heritage and is accessible by ferry from Keyhaven or by a long walk along the shingle spit from Milford on Sea. The castle offers views across the Solent narrows, and the surrounding waters are rich in marine life. The spit itself is a dynamic natural feature, shaped by tidal currents and storms.