St Catherines Castle

In the civil parish of Fowey.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Early C16 blockhouse and bastioned curtain wall on the tip of a rocky headland, St Catherine's Point, at the entrance to the River Fowey estuary on the south coast of Cornwall. The curtilage of the blockhouse, as defined by its curtain wall, was refurbished in 1855 to form a gun battery during the Crimean War. After serving as a practice battery in the later C19, it was again modified and re-armed in 1940 as an emplacement in a more extensive Second World War gun battery occupying St Catherine's Point.

This site has been described as a Artillery Fort:

Fortifications designed specifically for mounting artillery, usually as coastal defence against warships. Vary from large stone structures to small earthwork bulwarks with room for one or two pieces. Although some of the large royal buildings were of high quality with good detail these are actually practical military works.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.

Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 70711)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX11875093

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 432263
Web site links
- http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/st-catherines/st-cat.php
  http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.304
  http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/393.html
Books
- Campbell, Adele (ed), 2004, Heritage Unlocked; Guide to free sites in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (English Heritage) p42-5
  Duffy, Michael, 1999, 'Coastal Defences and Garrisons 1480-1914' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p158-60
  Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p20
  Saunders, Andrew, 1997, Channel Defences (London; Batsford/English Heritage) p117
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p18
  Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p73
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p289
  Price, M. and H., 1980, Castles of Cornwall (Bossiney Books) p12-6
  Morley, B., 1976, Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence (London; HMSO)
  O’Neil, B.H.St.J., 1960, Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England (Oxford: Claredon Press) p45
  Braun, Hugh, 1936, The English castle (Batsford)
  Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p112-3 [King writes most misleading]
  Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol3 Cornwall [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=403]
  Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p23
  Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol8 p15-6
Journal Articles
- Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p219
  1977, Fort Vol4 p83
  Saunders, A.D., 1973, 'The coastal defences of Cornwall' Archaeological Journal Vol130 p233
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html#cornwall1]
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p76, 77, 86

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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