England in peril. Why Henry VIII built Pendennis and St. Mawes Castles.
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Pendennis Castle seen from the side.
Why was England in peril?
The short answer to this is that in Henry’s desperate bid to get a son, he made three big enemies, France, Spain and the Pope. In 1538 they all ganged up against him.
How did the alliance of France and Spain happen?
Henry VIII’s problems began when his elder brother, Prince Arthur, heir to the throne suddenly died in 1502. This meant Henry was now heir to the throne and his father was keen for him to get married quickly and produce heirs. Catherine of Aragon had been married to Arthur and now was living in England as a widow. Henry VII, keen to hold onto Catherine’s large dowry (payment on marriage from the bride’s father) and also to maintain good relations with Spain (Aragon being part of Spain) called for Catherine to marry his second son Henry. It was vital that “Little” England should have good relations with a more powerful country. It would also mean recognition of the status of the Tudors. The crown of Spain would not allow a princess to marry just anybody. One problem was that they had to get permission from the Pope because the Bible and church laws forbade a man to marry his brother’s widow. However, in another part of the Bible, it suggests that the man should marry his brother’s widow! The Pope ruled that the second part was the one to follow and so permission was granted but the marriage only resulted in one short lived son. In January 1511, Catherine gave birth to a boy who was christened Henry but after 52 days he died! She did produce a daughter, Mary who went on to become Queen Mary I but Henry’s wish to have a legitimate son was never fulfilled in this marriage. Henry blamed Catherine for this, especially as he had acknowledged the birth of an illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy (Fitz means son of and roy stands for “roe” or king). Henry believed this marriage was cursed by God. He, therefore needed a divorce but the Pope would not grant one despite Wolsey’s efforts. The Pope did not like to overrule a previous Pope’s ruling and he was a captive of Charles V (King of Spain), Catherine’s nephew and so even if he wanted to state that the initial marriage was illegal, he couldn’t. Henry’s eventual solution was to create his own Church or denomination, “The Church of England” and was then able to state that the marriage was not legal. In effect he gave himself a divorce. This served only to infuriate Charles V and war was one of the strategies that he considered.The ruling that Henry had not legally married Catherine meant that she had been his mistress all along and she had lived in sin! Needless to say, this was not appreciated by Charles V.
St Mawes Castle, built opposite Pendennis Castle on the other side of the Far estuary.
Why was Henry VIII so desperate to get a son?
Henry was desperate for a son because he sincerely believed that a daughter only had three options, all of which were bad.
1. Either marry an Englishman and then possibly see another civil war like the Wars of the Roses. This would mean also that the Tudor line was at an abrupt end.
2. The second option was to marry a foreigner but this would mean being taken over by another country in his view. When Queen Mary married Philip of Spain, many in England were worried that their country would become subservient to Spain and end up fighting her wars!
3. The last one was to try to rule but be pushed aside like one of Henry’s ancestors, Matilda, the only surviving child of Henry I. Henry I lost his son in the “White Ship disaster” and tried to get the nobles to agree to her succession on his death. Unfortunately for Henry I, his nephew Stephen, came over from France after Henry 1’s death and seized the throne. England had never had a “crowned queen”, ie a queen that ruled the country. Queens were only ever queen because they had married a king hence “queen consort”.
How did France and Spain come to gang up against Henry VIII?
Henry always saw Francis I as his big rival in Europe and wanted to claim the throne of France harking back to the days of Henry V. He defeated the French in the battle of Agincourt but died before he could be crowned the King of France. Now, with an upset Charles V, both Spain and France looked at England as a potential conquest and made peace with each other in 1538. The Truce of Nice was signed committing both sides to a 10 year truce which raised the prospect of invasion. They were brought together by the Pope who had excommunicated Henry and wanted his control of the church in England restored. He made it the christian duty of Francis and Charles to overthrow Henry as well as that of the citizens of England.
What was Henry’s response to this threat?
Henry’s response was a plan known as the “Device of the King”, which proposed to build castles, forts, defence embankments etc to protect the south coast of England. Potential landing points and vulnerable ports were to be protected against any French and/or Spanish attack. These were the last castles built in England except for “mock” castles harking back to the past but were still part of Britain’s defences in World War two. Henry’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I was able to use this line of defences at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and for two subsequent but smaller, armadas in 1596 and 1597.
Pendennis Castle and St Mawes Castle overlooked a stretch of water known as the “Carrick Roads”, at the mouth of the river Fal. The Carrick Roads was a safe anchorage for ships coming across the Atlantic and those from the mediterranean and thus, was a potential key place for Spanish ships to use. Cannon fire from Pendennis and St Mawes would overlap and so ensured that no enemy ships would sneak in.
To pay for all of these defences, Henry used money from dissolving (closing down) all monasteries. The closure meant Henry had an enormous amount of land to sell as well all of the other valuable monastic possessions. He even used iron from the melted down iron bells to create cannons!
Dissolving the monasteries and creating the church of England to replace the Roman Catholic Church was not taken lightly in Devon and Cornwall and so, when further Protestant reforms took place under King Edward in 1549, there was an uprising known as the Prayer Book Revolt. Although it was repressed, Protestant Tudor governments could not count on Cornish and Devonian support in the light of any possible Spanish invasion with an aim of the-introducing Catholicism.
Pendennis Castle
The main feature of Pendennis, the circular gun tower measuring 57 feet in diameter, was built in the 1540s with the gatehouse, ramparts and the building in front of it being added on by Elizabeth I. It cost £5018 to build which is nearly £2 million by today’s standards. Its primary job was simply to shower cannon balls at any enemy shipping in the Carrick Roads.
What is there to see at Pendennis castle?
As you enter the castle, Henry’s coat of arms is on display.
Looking out from the entrance. This type of castle still has a portcullis even though it can be blown to smithereens with gunpowder. It is facing in land and so cannot be hit by cannon balls fired from ships.
On entering the castle, you walk into the lower gun room. This room is octagonal in shape with canons occupying the seven alcoves, two of which are featured above. Below is a little slot in the wall for powder and cannon balls.
Up the stairs and we see the entrance to the large upper gun room.
In the upper gun room you can see replica Tudor guns in the upper gun room. The real guns would have been here ready to take on Henry’s enemies, France and Spain, as well as Elizabeth’s enemy, the Spanish Armada if it ever came near.
A model of a cannon to explain how a cannon was operated.
Above and below are views from the Tudor roof gun platform. In all there were seven slots or crenels, in the surrounding stone wall to shoot from.The yachts in the in the photo are a lot smaller than enemy ships but illustrate what lookouts would be waiting for.
To get an even better view of potential invaders, Pendennis has a small turret projecting out from the roof with seven windows.
Above is the top of the portcullis which would rapidly drop down in the event of a possible attack. What looks like a runloop on the left is apparently where the chains would go to raise the drawbridge, again, enhancing the defences of the castle.
All good castles have a spiral staircase and Pendennis was no exception.
All good castles have garderobes or toilets and Pendennis has a couple to discover. The name garderobe comes from the habit of hanging clothes in smelly toilets to keep moths from laying eggs which hatch and produce textile munching caterpillars. From this came the word wardrobe.
A skirt of stone around the castle known as a “chemise” which acted as another gun platform.
Above, loads of cannons to see from different periods.In the bottom right hand corner is a small cannon called a carronade which fired a mass of small iron balls.
Below a group of 19th and 20th century artillery weapons with the largest in the middle known as “Long Tom” used by the American army in World War Two from 1943.
Above, the Royal Artillery barracks. This was built from 1900 -1902 and occupied by the 105th Company of Royal Garrison Artillery until 1910. The Territorial Force (now called the Territorial Army or TA) made up of voluntary, part time soldiers then took it over.
What happened at Pendennis Castle when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne?
The defences at Pendennis and other southern coastline castles were upgraded by Elizabeth to counter the threat of invasion from Spain. The King of Spain, Philip II, was furious with Elizabeth for several reasons and was determined to conquer England.
Why did Philip try to invade England?
Philip believed it was his duty to return England to the Catholic faith. After Henry VIII, his son Edward converted England to a Protestant country only to die young and hand over to Queen Mary I in 1553, who was a devout Catholic! Philip II then married Mary in 1554 but she died four years later. Queen Elizabeth took the religion of the country back to Protestantism and consequently Philip was angry. At first he even proposed marriage to Elizabeth but was turned down.
Elizabeth openly supported pirates such as Sir Francis Drake who captured numerous Spanish galleons sailing from South America which were loaded with gold. The support meant no action was taken against these pirates but even worse, Elizabeth financed Drake and when successful, took a large percentage of the treasure. Local dignitaries in Cornwall benefitted from financing piracy including Sir John Killigrew who became the first captain of Pendennis.
Philip had backed Mary Queen of Scots to overthrow Elizabeth when she was held prisoner in England. All failed and ended up with Mary Queen of Scots being beheaded in 1587. This was the last straw for Philip.
What was the effect of the Spanish Armadas?
1593 Spanish raid at Arwenack
Although the first Spanish Armada did not come close to Pendennis, later attacks targeted it. The castle was built on land that was owned by the Killigrew family with Sir John Killigrew being the first captain of the castle. Later his son and grandson became captains and as a consequence, one Spanish raid in 1593 destroyed their family home at Arwenack (Falmouth).
1595 Spanish raid on Mounts Bay
This was followed by four Spanish ships attacking coastal towns along the coast in 1595 known as the “Raid on Mounts Bay”. Newlyn, Mousehole and Penzance. The ships had come over from a Spanish outpost in Blavet, Brittany and from here they could regularly threaten England and Wales, especially Cornwall.
1597 Spanish plan to attack Pendennis
In 1597 20 000 troops were aboard a Spanish fleet with the aim of attacking Pendennis and then occupying the west. This would then act as a staging post to conquer the rest of the country. With excellent anchorage there for the fleet and a known Cornish disposition towards Catholicism there appeared a reasonable chance of success but once again bad weather prevented any successful landing. Without help from the weather, Sir Walter Raleigh’s force of 500 men against 20 000 Spanish troops would have found a successful defence impossible.
Pendennis redesigned
Elizabeth’s government knew that they could not always rely on the weather to defeat Spanish invaders so they now undertook a review of Pendennis’ defences and adopted the latest fort design from Italy, a bastion fort that would surround Henry’s original castle. (see below). The roughly rectangular earthworks and walls were enhanced by projections out from the walls known as the bastions or bulwarks. These projections would enable cannons to fire in various directions to eliminate any possible blind spots. A stone walled ditch was also created to surround Henry’s castle to add to its impregnability.
What happened at Pendennis Castle in the English Civil War?
When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, the area around Pendennis Castle stayed loyal to the king. Falmouth was an important harbour for bringing in military supplies for the Royalist side and the Carrick Roads was used as a base for 15 Royalist ships to attack Parliamentary ships. With the parliamentary side defeating Royalists in the west, Pendennis became the last stronghold for the King’s supporters. In 1646, it was the base for 1000 soldiers prepared to sit tight and withstand a 3 month siege by the Parliamentarians which included being regularly bombarded by the surrounding cannons. After those 3 months an honourable surrender was negotiated and military action at Pendennis was terminated.
Essential information
Getting there
By road Pendennis castle is on Pendennis Headland, 1 mile SE of Falmouth. For Sat Nav use the postcode : TR11 4LP. Main car park on Castle Drive - follow signs past 'Ships & Castles' Leisure Centre. There is no parking charge. Disabled parking in castle grounds, (signposted against the one way flow on Castle Drive). Disabled visitors may be set down at the keep entrance before parking in the disabled parking bays behind the Royal Garrison Artillery Barracks.
By rail GWR’s Falmouth Docks station is a 1⁄2 mile walk.
By bus Falmouth Town Shuttle bus - Take the Pendennis Rise stop for circular route along seafront and the town centre. Runs all year round. Route 366 provided by OTS. More details at www.travelinesw.com
Facilities Pendennis has two sets of toilets and a tea room with tables outside and indoors. We can personally recommend the food which is of good quality and value.
Tickets You don’t need to book your visit in advance, but you will always get the best price and guaranteed entry by booking online ahead of your visit. The prices shown here include a discount. The admission price will be higher if you choose to pay on the day you visit.
You can book your advance ticket online up to 8.45am on the day you want to visit.
Your booking is for the site/event only and does not guarantee a car parking space, which may carry an additional charge.
You can arrive anytime from the time slot you book, and stay as long as you like.
If you are a Member and wish to book, your ticket will still be free. Please remember to bring your English Heritage membership card with you. Members are able to book tickets for those included in the membership only. Any additional bookings made will be chargeable on site.
Some of our sites can get very busy, especially on Bank Holidays. Our busiest times are between 11am and 2pm, so if you prefer to visit at a quieter time you may wish to visit outside of these hours.
Please remember to bring your booking confirmation with you when you visit.
Adult £12.20
Child (5-17 years) £7.30
Concession £11.00
Family (2 adults, up to 3 children) £31.70
Family (1 adult, up to 3 children) £19.50
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Opening hours 10.00 to 17.00 (please check the website for winter opening times)
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