#2 - Castle
Hurst Castle
When does a “Fort” become a “Castle”? Peronsally, I’d call this a fort, and Wikipedia says “Hurst Castle is an artillery fort”, but it’s name is Hurst Castle … so, for this comp … a castle it is! 
Pics taken, yesterday, only feet away from the lighthouse pics, just rotated left 90 degrees.
It’s a shame the wind was so extreme, you can see the streaks on the sea forming in the lee of the castle, because I had intended a Litchi mission to take some video all around the place. Another day.
One thing this kind of comp does is makes one curious about the objects we may have known about for years, but never really taken much interest in.
I’ve lived in this part of the world most my life, spent summer weekends at my grandmother’s beach hut less than 4 miles from here, used to do quite a bit of sailing and passed within spitting distance of the … spit (sorry) etc. But had never walked along the length of the spit to the castle and lighthouse.
The initial fort was built by King Henry VIII in 16th Century.
In the 17th Century, during the English Civil War of the 1640s, Hurst was held by Parliament and was used briefly to detain King Charles I before his execution in 1649.
It was used into the 18th Century, but then fell into disrepair.
The Napoleonic Wars resulted in it getting a make-over and some big guns … 24-pounder, then 32-pounder, then 12.5 inch RMLs … all in the space of a few 19th Century years when technology was progressing at a wicked pace.
It was then re-equipped for both WW1 and WW2.
The western end of The Isle of Wight, and The Needles, can bee seen in the distance.
