SUMMER 2015 NEWSLETTER

An exceprt about the RIVER HAMBLE kindly
permitted by the HLHS
Hamble has a Castle!
St Andrew's Castle on Hamble
Common was built about 1543
to protect the river and
Southampton Water and was
part of Henry VIII's Solent
defences. One of its governors,
Sir Henry Mainwaring, was
himself a reformed pirate.
Printed with persmission by
the HLHS
The earliest mention of Hamble is by the Venerable Bede when he
wrote in his Ecclesiastical History about 720 AD "... the tides
meet and oppose one another beyond the mouth of the River
Homelea (Hamble) which runs into that narrow sea from the land
of the Jutes ..." Even in those early days Hamble and its river,
particularly the double high tides, was considered an important
feature. Also about this time Saint Willibald, a monk educated at a
monastery in Bishops Waltham, set sail from the Hamble River
for the Middle East.
As early as the 13th and 14th centuries, records show Hamble as a
significant maritime centre. In 1235 it is recorded that 11 ships
from the Suffolk village of Dunwich, which were full of herring,
were arrested at Hamble for failing to pay custom duties. Also the
Prior of Hamble used to send annually 20,000 oysters to the
monks at Winchester.
At the beginning of the Hundred Years War, Hamble provided
provisions for part of the English Fleet in 1339. It is also recorded
that, for the Battle of Crecy in 1346, Hamble supplied 7 ships and
117 mariners. By comparison, Portsmouth contributed 5 ships and
96 mariners.
Hamble was used by Henry V’s ships, as Southampton was the
main centre for the royal fleet from where in 1415 they sailed
to France for the Agincourt campaign. In 1417 twelve royal
ships spent the winter anchored at Hamble protected by 40
archers.
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, Hambl
e Common Camp. Source
Wikipedia
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