28 SANDSFOOT AND PORTLAND CASTLES. 



these renewals have survived in some instances, and shed a 

 certain amount of light upon the methods of construction 

 and the varieties of armament in a coast fort of the Tudor 

 and Stuart periods.* The " new " castle of Portland was 

 no doubt a few years earlier in date than its neighbour, 

 Sandsfoot, and it differed from the latter in design ; but both 

 strongholds were from the beginning threatened by a common 

 danger, viz., encroachments by the sea. Apparently 

 Portland was thought to be more worthy of preservation, as 

 it is to-day almost unchanged in its main features, and is 

 occupied as a dwellinghouse by an officer of the garrison ; 

 whereas Sandsfoot is a picturesque ruin, with the southern 

 portion of its fabric lying upon the beach below the cliff on 

 which it formerly stood. 



At the time of the Armada, Portland was held by one 

 hundred foot soldiers in addition to the gunners, the garrison 

 of Sandsfoot being fifty plus the artillerymen ; but neverthe- 

 less it would seem that the inhabitants of the district were 

 alarmed at the prospect, for they say in a letter of 1586 that 

 the Spaniards could land near Weymouth or Portland and 

 that her Majesty's two castles could not reach them with a 

 single shot. (Dom. State Papers.) 



I have arranged the available information in chronological 

 order and in separate chapters, for convenience of reference. 

 The names of the officers of both castles are almost invariably 

 those of families connected with this county, and it is not 

 unlikely that the men, too, were locally recruited. 



SANDSFOOT, OR WEYMOUTH, CASTLE. 



The earliest mention of this castle which has come under 

 my notice is in 1541, when Maurice Rede was appointed for 



* The eastward shore of Dorset was guarded by Brownsea Castle, 

 also built by Henry VIII., and by small forts or gun platforms at 

 Handfast Point and Peverel Point in Elizabethan times, but historical 

 facts are even more scanty with regard to those defences. 



