Worsleys Tower |
| Hob Uid: 459362 | |
Location :
Isle of Wight
Freshwater
|
| Grid Ref : SZ3325808942 |
| Summary : The site of Worsley's Tower, a small artillery tower, built in 1522-5 by Sir James Worsley for Henry VIII. Built at a time of conflict with the French, the tower was designed to defend the strategic Needles Passage in conjunction with Hurst Castle on the mainland. The tower was probably demolished in 1628-31 by the Governor of the Isle of Wight Lord Conway, having been replaced by the Sharpenode Battery. Worsley's Tower stood near to the shore, at a place which is known today as Round Tower Point. Its ruins have been gradually eroded away by coastal erosion, until nothing now remains, and the only indication of its presence is the name Round Tower Point. The castle consisted of a squat, octagonal tower, six metres high and eight metres wide, with a single entrance. It was probably a single-storey structure with the artillery mounted on the roof so that it could fire through the embrasures on the parapets. There were gun ports in the lower walls near ground level which would have provided flanking fire. |
More information : (Area SZ 332892) WORSELEYS TOWRE (1).
Sir James Worseley (d.1538) built a round tower on the Isle of Wight. In 1539 the Earl of Southampton reported that if this "ill-devised" tower was rebuilt and a castle erected at Hurst, all shipping through the Solent could be commanded (2).
The tower was on the high ground of Norton Common, and was pulled down by Lord Conway (3).
Round Tower Point is named after it (4).
No trace, nor further information. Round Tower Point, centred
SZ 332893, lies at the base of unstable clay cliffs which could have been eroded since the 16th cent., possibly destroying the site of the tower. (5)
Additional bibliography. Probably built 1522-5. The tower was a squat, octagonal tower 19 feet high and 26 feet in diameter with a single entrance. It was probably single storeyed mounting artillery through the roof parapets, and gun ports through the lower walls flanking the tower. This would have been a similar arrangement to the forts at Dover, Camber and Portsmouth. In 1559 it was fortified with 15 arquebuses, and 20 bows, pikes and bills. Probably demolished in 1628-31, having been replaced by the Sharpenode Battery. (6-9)
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