It appears that on Easter-day 1539 three strange ships appeared in the Downs, and as their origin and purpose were alike unknown and suspicious, all the able men of Kent rose, and mustered in armour without delay. Invasion of the kingdom was feared at any moment, and steps were at once taken to put all the havens and possible landing-places in a state of defence.
As Lambard mentions, the most prominent of these block-houses, as being more immediately opposite the enemy’s coast, were Sandown (now demolished), Deal, and Walmer. The two latter, whilst retaining many of the original features, have been considerably modified by alterations and modern additions.
On a coast such as this, extending from Pegwell Bay to Kingsdown, and directly facing the nearest shores of the Continent, it would be remarkable if no traces were found of defensive works raised to oppose the incursions of the enemy. The need of such defences for the protection of the coast must have been apparent during a considerable part of the Middle Ages, and means were doubtless taken to meet it.
Before the building of the three castles in the reign of Henry VIII, which are about to be described, an interesting chain of earthworks of a defensive character was thrown up along the coast. The most important were the Great, or Black Bulwark, and the Little, or White Bulwark, both in the parish of Walmer. There were also two other earthwork forts situated between the castles of Deal and Sandown. In addition to these there was a similar fort on the site of each of the three block-houses or castles built on this coast.
There must have been many raids by the French and others at various mediaeval periods, and it can hardly be doubted that these forts took some part in resisting them. Against such an incursion as that feeble attempt by Perkin Warbeck in 1495, when the men of Kent in this part of the county, and particularly those from Sandwich, beat back the intruders, such earthworks as these must have been a valuable means of defence.
Among the State Papers preserved in the Record Office are several which give interesting information generally as to the defences set up by Henry VIII in 1540.
FIG. 34. DEAL CASTLE, FROM THE SOUTH
From them we gather that the following castles and block-houses were at that time newly built in the Downs (i.e., Sandown, Deal, and Walmer) and at the following places: Dover(?), Folston (Folkestone), Rye, Calshotispoynt (Calshot), the Cowe (Cowes) under the Wight, two bulwarks above Gravesend, and bulwarks at Higham, Tilbury, and over against Gravesend, at Plymouth, Dartmouth, Falmouth, Fowey, Torre Bay, Portland, etc.
