St Andrew's Castle, Hamble

St.Andrew's Castle is all that remains of a defensive structure dating to the reign of King Henry VIII. It was built around 1543 as part of the Device Forts, a chain of coastal fortifications designed to defend the solent from French naval attack. The site is located on Hamble Common, to the south of the village of Hamble-le-Rice. The area is also the site of an Iron Age promontory hillfort, Hamble Common Camp.

The site has a prominent position over Southampton Water and investigations suggest that it originally consisted of a rectangular structure fronted by a gun-platform with a semi-circular layout. The castle was protected by a moat with an additional two gun-platform mounted on the Counterscarp. The structure was intact as late as the early 17th century. It was disabled in 1642 by Cromwell's Parliamentary forces and afterwards left to dereliction.