Listed Building record MWX822 - Brownsea Castle, Studland

Brownsea Castle, now a country house, was rebuilt on the site of a small Henrician coastal artillery fort or blockhouse, built between 1545-47 by Henry VIII as part of his network of coastal defences to protect against French and Spanish invasion. The fort was refortified during the Civil War by the Parliamentarians and was then bought and converted into a country house in 1726. In the mid-19th century the house was remodelled and a new Tudor style facade, gatehouse and pier built. This was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1897. Any remains of the original castle are now in the basement of the house, though sections of the later house reflect its original structure.Although nothing remains on the surface of the original Henrician blockhouse, its physical aspect can be interpreted from a 1597 map of Poole Harbour. It consisted of a square single-storey stone building surrounded on three sides by a moat with a hexagonal gun platform on the seaward side which was enclosed by a low wall.The original country house was built in 1727 and incorporated the remains of the blockhouse into its structure. The building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1897 by the architect Philip Brown of Southampton. The exterior of the house is mostly in the Victorian Tudor style with an irregular plan and profile. It is dominated by a tower which was built off the original blockhouse. The main building is part two-storeys and part three-storeys and has a tower which rises a further two storeys. Facing the sea is a two-storey building dating to circa 1850 in front of the tower. The walls are part coursed with squared rough ashlar stone, and part brick with stone dressings. The roofs have battlemented parapets.

Brownsea or Branksea Castle is now in general aspect a building of the later 19th century but it contains, more or less concealed in the basement, the greater part of Henry VIIIs coastal fort of 1547-8 with 18th and early 19th century extensions which were added after its conversion into a residence, circa 1718. The original 16th century fort is shown in a detailed view and plan inset on a map of Poole Harbour dated 1597 (see Authority 4) and evidently consisted of a square single-storey stone building surrounded on three sides by a moat with a hexagonal gun platform on the fourth, seaward side, enclosed by a low wall. The entrance was in the south west side approached across the moat over a drawbridge. The castle was severely damaged by fire in 1892 and was largely refaced and extended in 1897. Plan Gd. 2. Now the property of the National Trust. (2-4) Brownsea Castle was built between 1545 and 1547 as part of a general castle building programme along the Dorset coast. Originally intended as a two-storied structure, it is clear that as late as 1572, the castle was incomplete as the second storey had not been built. In 1584, £200 was spent on raising the walls a further four feet, high enough to be capped by a parapet. (6) After the Dissolution of the Monasteries Brownsea Island passed from Cerne Abbey to Henry VIII and he constructed one of a number of blockhouses to defend the south coast of England against invasion from Europe. Documents of the time indicate that the townspeople of Poole were ordered to maintain a permanent garrison at the fort. By 1576 the fort had fallen into ruin, however, during the English Civil War, 1642-51, Brownsea Castle was strongly refortified by the Parliamentarians. In 1660 it was owned by Robert Clayton and then in 1726 it was bought for £300 by William Benson. He dismantled the old fortifications and rebuilt his own country estate style castle. In the mid-19th century the castle was remodelled and a new Tudor style facade, gatehouse with clocktower, and a pier with castellated watchtowers was built. After the fire in 1896 which gutted the house the castle was rebuilt and during the Edwardian period it was owned by the van Raalte family as their country retreat. The castle and island were very prosperous and one famous visitor was Guglielmo Marconi, who carried out his experiments with wireless telegraphy. In 1962-3 the Island was bought by the National Trust and is run as one of their properties. <8>

Record last edited

Sep 15 2023 11:52AM