page_title: Sandown Castle, Kent
section_title: 18th–21st centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Sandown Castle, Kent / History / 18th–21st centuries
caption_attribution_description: Depicted place&#58; Sandown Castle
context_page_description: Sandown Castle was an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII in Sandown, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the strategically important Downs anchorage off the English coast.
  Comprising a keep and four circular bastions, the moated stone castle covered 0.59 acres and had 39 firing positions on the upper levels for artillery, with 31 gunloops in the basement for handguns. It cost the Crown a total of £27,092 to build the three castles of Sandown, Walmer and Deal, which lay adjacent to one another along the coast and were connected by earthwork defences. The original invasion threat passed, but during the Second English Civil War of 1648–49, Sandown was seized by pro-Royalist insurgents and was only retaken by Parliamentary forces after several months' fighting.
  By the 19th century, the castle was suffering badly from the effects of coastal erosion but remained in military use until 1863. The War Office then demolished the upper levels with explosives, carrying out a second wave of demolition work in 1882 and destroying most of the surviving stonework in 1893.
context_section_description: In 1785, the sea broke through the outer walls of the castle, and coastal erosion continued over the next few years. The castle was initially described as being "barely habitable", but by 1793 it was considered "unfit for habitation." It was repaired and garrisoned again during the French Revolutionary Wars, with two new artillery batteries being constructed to the north of the castle. Early in the 19th century the castle was used as by the early coastguard for the suppression of local smuggling.
  Coastal erosion continued during the 19th century. As a consequence, the War Office sold off the reusable materials of the fortification for £564 in 1863 and demolished the upper parts of the castle, leaving a level platform across the lower parts of the keep and the bastions. Part of the stone was purchased by the Earl of Granville and used in his building work at Walmer Castle, while other masonry was reused in the construction of Deal Pier. The sea continued to erode the remaining stonework and destroyed one of the adjacent artillery batteries – the other was converted for use by the coastguard. In 1882 the Royal Engineers used explosives to remove around 600 tonnes (590 long tons; 660 short tons) of masonry from the castle for use in the construction of an officer's house at Dover Castle, causing further damage.
  In 1883 architectural historian Hayter Lewis complained to the British Archaeological Association that more needed to be done to protect the ruins, contrasting their poor treatment with that of the other castles along the coast. Despite this, concerns continued to be raised about the safety of the ruins facing along the sea, and in 1894 the Royal Engineers blew up the bastions and the keep on the seaward side using guncotton. The town of Deal then bought the remains from the government for £35 for use as part of their local sea defences. Coastal erosion continued and between 1988 and 1989 the remains were encased in concrete to form a sea wall, although they remain vulnerable to further coastal erosion. The remains of the castle are protected under UK law as a scheduled monument.
caption: Panorama of the remains in 2006
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