Nettlestone point (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Nettlesheigh fort

In the civil parish of Nettlestone and Seaview.
In the historic county of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Modern Authority of Isle of Wight.
1974 county of Isle of Wight.
Medieval County of Hampshire, Isle of Wight.

OS Map Grid Reference: SZ629917
Latitude 50.72153° Longitude -1.11029°

Nettlestone point has been described as a probable Artillery Fort.

There are no visible remains.

Description

A fortification was built at St Helens some time between 1539 and 1552. Its cost and design are unknown, but it may have been the small earthen fort in which the French took refuge on 21 July 1545. It was possibly situated at Nettlestone point (SZ 629917), where an 'old fort' is marked on John Haywood's map prefaced to Worsley, History of the Isle of Wight, 1781 but Horestone Point (SZ 634907) or Node's Point (SZ 638900) seem more likely sites. (HKW)
The tradition of a fort at Nettlestone Point, now the town of Sea View, dating from the reign of Henry VIII is echoed in local building names of the former "Old Fort House" and the present "Old Fort" public house. (PastScape)

The Nettlestone fort is clearly marked on a map of c. 1570, commissioned by Lord Burghley. It is believed to have been made by John Rudd, a vicar who also became a skilled cartographer (BL Royal MS. 18. D.III, f.18). The fort is circular in shape and seems to be made up of curved sections, suggesting the masonry of a small, round stone tower. This may be seen as a smaller version of round, stone artillery platforms such as the Round Tower at Portsmouth or Cromwell's Castle, Tresco. It may even be in the tradition of a locally built stone tower, such as Worsley's Tower (Rob Martin 2006)

Comments

May be the site of the petit fort ... avoyent quelque artillerie mentioned in an account of a raid on the island by the French in 1545.
There is a strong local tradition that the Sea View Yacht Club building is built on the walls of a large round tower (larger than Martin seems to suggest). These walls are of irregular shaped stones only in general courses quite unlike surviving Henrician forts which all have regular squared stones in regular courses. On the current balance of evidence Gatehouse does not believe these walls to be those of a 16th century building of any form.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 975068.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Rob Martin, 2006, Minor Fortifications of the Isle of Wight
Books
- Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works, Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 549-50
  Worsley, Richard, 1781, The History of the Isle of Wight (A. Hamilton) (map by John Haywood) online copy (a useless scan)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Petitot, M. (ed), 1821, 'Les Mémoires de Messire Martin Du Bellay' Collection Complète des Mémoires Relatifs à l'Histoire de France (Paris) Tome 19 p. 569- online copy
  c. 1548, The Encampment of the English forces near Portsmouth, Together with a view of the English and French fleets at commencement of the action between them on the XIXth July MDXLV (Cowdray picture) For a discussion of this picture see Dominic Fontana, The Cowdray engravings and the loss of the Mary Rose

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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