St Helens Fort

Description

The site of St Helen's Bulwark, built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1545 as part of his network of coastal defences to protect England from the threat of invasion. Very little is known about the fort but it was mentioned in an account of Henry VIII and Edward VI's military expenses between 1538 and 1552 and is mentioned on a Royal Survey of 1559. It was probably built before the French attack of 1545 in order to defend this safe anchorage point. In fact, St Helen's bulwark may well be the small earthen fort which was mentioned in the separate accounts of Sir John Oglander and Martin du Bellay, as being captured during the French attack on the Isle of Wight on 21st July 1545. This event and maybe even the fort itself, can be seen in the background of Cowdray's famous engraving of the French fleet's attack on Portsmouth on 19th July 1545.
The last mention of the castle was circa 1660 and a Victorian coastal battery was built on the same location in the 19th century. No remains of either fortification have survived today. (PastScape)

A fort is first mentioned at St. Helens in an account of the military expenses of Henry VIII's and Edward VI's wars 1538 -1552, entitled 'Charges of the Kinges warres and Fortifications' (c. 1553. Bodleian MS. Add. D. 43 f.11) From a Royal Survey of 1559, it is clear that there was a fort at the foot of the sloping cliffs at St. Helens, north of the Church seamark. In a detailed list of the lands belonging to the Priory of St. Helens, a fortification is used as one of the land marks: And alonge upon the shore on theste side of the priory Moore to the Bulwarke and so upon the cliffe to Sainte Hellains pointe - xx acres of pasture (Survey of the State of the Isle of Wight 20 Nov. 1559. SP 12/7/60 St Helens)
This seems to point to this bulwark being in the vicinity of Nodes Point, which had always been known as "Watch House Point" until the 19th century, because of the watch house that had been sited on top of the cliff at that point. Only later was the point renamed Nodes Point after the name of a field "Node Close". It may be significant that a Victorian battery was constructed here in the 19th century on top of the slumping cliffs at a very similar point to the Tudor fort of three hundred years before.
Both this fort and the one at Seaview were sited to cover the anchorage at St. Helens, which was to become a favoured sheltered naval station in the 17th and 18th centuries. The forts also provided defence against any landings by enemy forces in the area. Although the area between Seaview Duver and St. Helens Duver consists of slumping cliffs, these are low in places and can be described more accurately as steep slopes covered with woods.
The last mention of the fort seems to be in a letter, dated 10 May 1660, from Lord Culpeper, Governor of the Island, to Sir William Oglander, Colonel of the East Medine militia, ordering him ensure that each Company performed two days labour on the fortifications at St. Helens and Bembridge (OG/19/78 or OG/BB/520). (Martin 2006)

Comments

The fort mentioned in the french raid of 1545 is also suggested as Nettlestone Point.
PastScape locate this lost site with remarkable precision at SZ6369189098 a location on the sand dunes of The Duver. The location given here is Node's Point, as suggested by Martin.