| Abstract: |
The volume draws together all the available evidence to provide a synthesised account of the current state of knowledge regarding Camber Castle, situated a short distance to the south of the town and Cinque Port of Rye. Largely constructed between 1539 and 1543, it was an elaborate artillery fortification that represented an important element of Henry VIII's `Device', or coastal defence network, put in place from 1539 as a response to the threat of invasion following England's breach with Rome. The castle was operational for 100 years. By the 1630s, the steady advance of the coastline had left it stranded well inland from the sea. This, combined with changes in the concept of the artillery fortification, resulted in its decommissioning in 1637. Unusually, Camber Castle was not adapted for continued use through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and survives as an example of a largely unmodified Henrician artillery fort. It displays several clear and discrete phases of construction, which reflect changes in thinking about the design of fortifications. The construction phase of 1539--40, under the direction of Stephen von Haschenperg, is of particular interest since it represents the first attempt to build in England an artillery fortress of ultimately Italian inspiration. Doubts about the effectiveness of von Haschenperg's design led, however, to a complete remodelling of the castle's defences along more conservative lines, undertaken in 1542--3. The castle, which is in the guardianship of English Heritage, has seen numerous campaigns of research, survey and excavation. The volume includes a revised and expanded version of Martin Biddle's authoritative study, originally published in The History of the King's Works in 1982. Full reports are also included on the artefact and animal bone assemblages, which include an extensive sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century assemblage of English and imported pottery, a German ceramic tile-stove, a wide range of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century military artefacts, and a collection of vessel glass including façon de Venise cristallo. The animal bone collection is a benchmark for the zoo-archaeology of post-medieval England, and provides evidence for early livestock improvements. There is also a detailed review of the surviving building accounts for von Haschenperg's fortification. Includes French and German summaries, and a glossary of military architecture and terms associated with the lead calme, window glass and vessel glass. Separately authored reports include |
