Salcombe Castle
Salcombe Castle, also known as Fort Charles, is a ruined sixteenth-century blockhouse at the entrance to the Salcombe estuary in Devon, built by Henry VIII as part of the national coastal defence programme that created a chain of artillery forts around the English coastline in the 1540s and 1550s in response to the threat of French and Spanish invasion. The castle was one of the last of the English Civil War fortifications to surrender to Parliamentary forces in 1646, earning the town of Salcombe the distinction of holding out longer than almost any other Royalist stronghold in the country. The ruins are modest, but the estuary setting at the mouth of one of the most beautiful river estuaries in southwest England provides an attractive coastal heritage destination. Salcombe town above the estuary is one of the most fashionable sailing and holiday towns in Devon, celebrated for its exceptional sailing waters, excellent seafood and outstanding natural scenery.