Kingswear Castle
| Kingswear Castle | |
|
Devon | |
|---|---|
 Kingswear Castle, Devon | |
| Type: | Coastal artillery tower |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX891502 |
| Location: | 50°20’29"N, 3°33’35"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Intact, used as holiday let |
| Owned by: | Landmark Trust |
Kingswear Castle was built between 1491 and 1502 as a coastal artillery tower for use with heavy cannon, standing at the northern entrance to the Dart Estuary below Dartmouth in Devon. On the opposite shore stands Dartmouth Castle.
Owing to the limited range of cannon at the time, the fort at Kingswear was designed to work alongside Dartmouth Castle on the south shore, so that between them they could provide complete cover of the narrow entrance through the Dart Estuary into Dartmouth Harbour. As gun technology improved and the range of the weapons increased, new gun emplacements were added to Dartmouth Castle, aiming further out towards the estuary mouth. This led to a decline in the defensive role of Kingswear Castle.
An additional function for Kingswear was as the north end of a chain boom which could be drawn up between Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles to block the estuary to ships.
Unlike Dartmouth Castle, Kingswear Castle is owned by the Landmark Trust, and is not generally accessible to the public.