ant) ftortJanli Castles. 



By HENRY SYMONDS, F.S.A. 



1HE two fortresses which face each other across the 

 roadstead of Portland are said to have been 

 built by Henry VIII. as a protection against 

 invasion from the Channel, and although 

 there is no reason for doubting the statements 

 to that effect made by Hutchins and other 

 writers, I have been unable to find any 

 trace of an order to build, or any account of 

 the expenditure incurred when the castles were erected. 

 There is, however, a recital hidden away in an Act of Parlia- 

 ment of 1540, entitled " A bill for the subsidy," which touches 

 upon the subject. Among the reasons for the additional 

 taxation imposed by that Act was the cost of building and 

 arming many castles for the defence of the Kingdom, one of 

 those being the " bulwark at Portland," and it is said that 

 ten thousand men had been employed upon the various 

 works. 



The two structures in question have always been the 

 property of the Crown, who appointed a governor, or 

 " captain," from time to time, and repaired the walls, &c., 

 out of the public funds of the Exchequer. The details of 



