A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



About 1539 Henry feared a combination of the continental states against the kingdom. The 

 new navy, although more powerful than any England had ever yet possessed, more powerful than 

 even its creator dreamed it to be, was as yet an untried weapon. The preceding centuries were 

 fraught with the leson that English battles were best fought on the English seas, but there was a 

 natural inclination, especially in an age which was tending towards formalism in military science, to 

 fell back upon the orthodox defences of castles, sconces, and bulwarks to prevent a landing or to 

 support a defending force. As early as 1535 the idea of fortifying the strategic points round the 

 coast was in the air, for Cromwell then noted in his ' Remembrances ' that a small tax formerly 

 paid to Rome might well be diverted ' towards the defence of the realm to be employed in making 

 fortresses.' That the subject was then under consideration explains the existence of a map of 1533-4 

 showing proposed fortifications at Harwich and Landguard, although there is some doubt as to the 

 value of this map as evidence in point of date. 1 If it is reliable there must have been some par- 

 ticular reason, because at the time, and for some years afterwards, Calais and Dover were the only 

 places upon which money was being spent lavishly, and the fortification of the coast generally was 

 not commenced until 1539. Early in that year commissioners were appointed ' to search and defend 

 the coasts,' 2 and Lowestoft, Aldeburgh, and Landguard were designated as requiring defences.* 

 On 27 March the earls of Oxford and Essex, who were in superintendence in the eastern counties, 

 wrote to Cromwell that 20,000 men might be put ashore at Landguard and that a ' substantial 

 blockhouse ' was necessary there. 4 



The French ambassador, writing to his sovereign in May, thought that most of the places 

 where a foreign force might land would be in a state of defence by the end of the summer, but in 

 reality the work did not progress nearly so quickly ; in 1540 most of such bulwarks as had been 

 erected were still unarmed, but Lowestoft possessed one gun. A contemporary map 5 shows a three- 

 gun battery commanding the Stanford Channel and another that of St. Nicholas Gat ; the sites of 

 these batteries have long been below low-water mark. As there is an appointment of a gunner 

 for Lowestoft in March, I542, 6 the map may be assigned approximately to that year, and as 

 Landguard is indicated by a conventional circle it shows that the fort there was yet unbuilt. 

 Possibly there were also entrenchments thrown up at Mismer Haven. 7 In 1547 there is a reference 

 to the fort or forts at Landguard and to the six gunners permanently stationed at each of them. 8 

 There seem to have been 'houses' at Langer Point and Langer Rood ; Major J. H. Leslie, the 

 historian of Landguard, 9 considers the latter, now Garrison Rood, an excellent position militarily. 

 From a later paper 10 it appears that the blockhouse at the point was built by 1545 but that at Langer Rood 

 was probably somewhat later or not then garrisoned. Silas Taylor, who wrote his history of Harwich 

 in 1676, says that there was then remaining a bastion of one of the Henry VIII blockhouses which 

 was situated at or near the old burial-ground. At first all the coast defences, except those within 

 the Cinque Ports, were placed under the control of the Lord Admiral and regulations were drawn 

 up for their government, 11 but they soon passed out of his hands. Probably it was considered 

 unwise to entrust a subject with so much power. 



War with France and Scotland broke out again in 1543, and in June the North Sea fleet was 

 collecting in Orwell Haven, when Henry visited Harwich. Besides being the best harbour south 

 of the Humber, that of the Orwell was also the nearest to the fertile eastern counties, an important 

 point in relation to the victualling of the fleets. North Sea squadrons were in commission in 

 1542-3-4; for that of the last year, operating in Scotch waters in conjunction with the invading army 

 under the earl of Hertford, Lowestoft supplied fifteen ships, Aldeburgh nine, Dunwich sixteen, 

 Walberswick eleven, Southwold ten, and Ipswich ten. 18 All these must have been used as transports 

 and storeships, but as no doubt a sufficient number of vessels was left to carry on trade the figures 

 indicate an active maritime industry. Four of those from Lowestoft, one from Aldeburgh, one 

 from Southwold, and two from Ipswich, were of 100 tons or more, the largest being one of 160 

 tons belonging to Ipswich ; the largest Dunwich ships were only of 60 tons. On 6 July, 1543, 

 an action was fought ofF Orfordness between a French squadron and one under Sir Rice Mansel. 

 The French, fifteen or sixteen in number, had conveyed troops to Scotland in June ; war was 

 declared subsequently, and on their voyage back they were intercepted by Mansel. The French 

 took one ship and the English two, but Mansel chased them back to the Forth. Probably 



1 Cott. MSS. Aug. I, i, 56. 



' For Suffolk : Lord Wentworth, Sir Humphrey and Sir Anthony Wingfield, Sir Arthur Hopton, 

 Sir Edmund Bedingfield, Sir John Cornwallis, Sir Thomas Jermyn, Sir Wm. Drury, Sir Wm. Waldegrave and 

 Sir John Jerningham. 



I L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiv, pt. I, 398, 655. ' Ibid. 615. 



6 Cott. MSS. Aug. I, i, 58. L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvii, 220 (37). 



7 See/w//, p. 221. ' S. P. Dom. Edw. VI, i, 22. ' Landguard Fort, Lond. 1898. 

 10 S. P. Dom. Edw. VI, xv, n. 



" L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiv (pt. 2), 785 ; Admir. Ct. Misc. Bks. 129. 



II L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xix, (pt. i), 140 (6). 



212 



