Walk through the Dartmouth Castle

Dartmouth Castle is an artillery fort in Devon, England, designed to guard Dartmouth Harbour. The first elements of the castle originate from the 1380s, when city officials built a small enclosure fortress commanding the mouth of the Dart River in response to a French raid. This was built to combat enemy ships with catapults and maybe early guns, and it housed the local chapel of Saint Petroc. The castle was enlarged at the end of the 15th century with an artillery tower and an iron chain that could be stretched across the harbour to a tower at Godmerock; this addition established Britain's earliest known purpose-built coast artillery fort.

After years of disuse in the early nineteenth century, the castle was renovated with modern weaponry in 1859, although guarding Dartmouth's port was no longer a military priority. The castle was considered obsolete by the government by the early twentieth century, and it was opened to tourists. It was reintroduced into service during WWII, but it was ultimately decommissioned in 1955. English Heritage manages it in the twenty-first century, and the castle attracted 37,940 visits in 2007. If you're feeling daring, you may take a boat out to see the magnificent castle from afar. Keep a look out for animals along the South Devon shoreline.

Location: Castle Road, Dartmouth TQ6 0JN