03. Tilting at windmills – The search for Gosport’s lost castle (11 Sept)

‘Keys’ and ‘Trains of thought’: both are easy to lose. But to lose a whole castle? That’s a much bigger challenge…
About this Event

Enjoy this illustrated talk by Alex Bennett at Gosport Museum and Art Gallery.

Built as part of Henry VIII’s defence of the south coast against French invasion. Hasleworth Castle exists today as an echo of a memory, a name inherited out of context by a road and a school. An historical footnote if you will.

For the last fifty years, the official position has been that Hasleworth Castle was eradicated by later construction at Fort Blockhouse and HMS Dolphin. The only evidence for this? One man’s narrow interpretation of it being ‘upon the point of Hasil worth next Portesmouth [sic]’ [Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, vol 20 part 1 Jan-Jul 1545].

This talk will draw on a range of primary evidence from documents and early maps, blended with art and surviving Tudor artillery ‘castles’ such as Hurst, Calshot and Walmer, marinated in the local landscape, and dusted with a sprinkle of practical gardening know-how to try and answer the question: is Hasleworth Castle as lost as it seems? And could the very paper which first wrote it off as lost forever have the only known image of the castle’s remains accidentally included in its cover image…?

Duration Approx. 120 minutes

Please arrive at least 10 minutes before the start time to get seated and comfy. The venue offers a lovely Cafe and a small shop area stocking items from local makers.

Booking OPENS on 22 Aug at 0930

Advance Registration required: Limited spaces. You may book up to 4 tickets per booking.

To complete your registration, you will need your name, contact telephone number, email, post code

Please complete registration within 10:00 minutes. After this, the reservation we're holding will be released to others.

Alternative dates: If your first choice of time is fully booked, you can either add your name to the waitlist or return to the booking page of our website and choose again.

Accessibility: Full wheelchair access. For full accessibility options and facilities available, please go to 03. Tilting at windmills - The search for Gosport's lost castle @ GMAG - Gosport Heritage Open Days