Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle is a medieval military fortress which is located on the southern coast of England. The entire castle was built on a long and underwater gravel beach located in the middle of the sea on the nearest mainland. The castle Hurst city remains on Milford-On-Sea, about a mile and a half of the island of Hurst.

The only way to get to Hurst Castle is taking the ferry from Keyhaven, which sails to the island from April to late October.

Hurst Castle can be reached by car as there is a road connected to the mainland. The best option however is for visitors to leave their car in the parking lot and go to Hurst by ferry.

The ferry ride offers a beautiful view of the whole island and the castle Hurst yet it is advisable to take binoculars and a camera. There is a ferry every 20 minutes and costs about 5 GBP. The first ferry is at 10:30 am and the last leaves Hurst Castle at 17:30.

Hurst Castle was built as part of a chain of protective fortifications by Henry VIII, which aims to protect the British banks in the troubled days of his government. The coastal defenses were to protect England during the turbulent times of his reign.

In the name of its creator Hurst Castle was also known as Castle Henrician. Of course, Henrician castle was built on a strategic and important place, which was very convenient to control water from the west to Solent. Finally the Henrician castle was completed in in 1544.

In 1648 beyond the stone walls of Henrician, King Charles I was locked behind the walls. He waited in the castle before being taken to London for execution of sentence imposed on him, namely death.

The castle under went restoration and modernization during the Napoleonic wars and again in 1870 when they added the huge defensive cannons each weighing about 38 tons. Two of them can still be seen today.