# Talk:Device Forts

It now appers that there were TWO Sandown Castles, one in north deal, one on the Ilse of wight. Are both device forts? tooto 17:13, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A289721
shows there are 2. Confusing, isn't it! The Sandown Castle page correctly metions both

"Device forts"- it would be interesting to know the etymology of the name- any ideas? Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi 11:48, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Yep! In 16th century English, a "device" was a written plan, or instruction or schema - it could be in words, or the form of a diagram - that was had a creative component to it (typically, you could use the verb "to devise" in conjunction with it). Parliament and others used it a lot; you have other devices "for the poor people in this realm" (an approach at the Poor Law), or "for the unity in religion" (how to tackle Church issues) etc. Henry issued various "devices" in relation to fortifications at the end of his reign, from which the term then comes. What I can't work out though (and would welcome suggestions!) is when the term "Device fort" itself first starting being used in the literature; I can't seem to find references to it before the 1980s. Hchc2009 (talk) 20:12, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Good work with the map of Henrican castles and blockhouses. I thought you might be interested in the maps tool which is under development which would produce a zoomable map. It's not rolled out to the English Wikipedia yet, but from the developer's timeline it's might not be too far off. Richard Nevell (talk) 17:01, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Definitely - would be good to have such a tool. Hchc2009 (talk) 16:09, 4 December 2016 (UTC)