Why did Tilbury Fort develop into an important fortified site during the Renaissance period?

Why did Tilbury Fort develop into an important fortified site during the

Renaissance period?

The Renaissance period was basically a time of rebirth. It was a cultural movement that spanned from the 14th century to the 17th century; it began in Italy around this time spreading through Europe. It was a time of great advances in science as well as development in the perspective of paintings. Fortified sites have been built throughout time for a number of different reasons, like watching enemies to storing artillery at home. These sites often included earth walls, ditches, wooden stakes and maze like entrances to confuse their enemies and keep them out. Roman Forts were walls built out of earth and strengthened by stones and tiles. These were made were local tribes were unfriendly and were troops were stationed. The Romans built most of their forts along the south and east coast as these were the most vulnerable places. The Normans however built mote and bailey castles from earth and wood, these were later replaced by stone. These castles were built to control the local people.

The main reason for building Tilbury Fort was that it was on the River Thames which leads to London the economical and political capital of the country. The Thames also needed to be protected as an undefended river was an open invitation into the country, as travelling up river is a lot easier than trekking across country. Another reason the Thames was important because 80% of English exports passed out of the river, there were important royal dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford. The arsenal at Woolwich soon became the central store for England.

In a coastal attack the first line of defence would be the navy but in case it was evaded or defeated gun defences were needed on the shores of England. It was more logical that these defences be placed as close to the river mouth as possible. However due to the lack of artillery at this time forts needed to be placed on a narrower part of the river. The marshes, mudflats and sandbars surrounding Tilbury also provided great natural defences against a landing.

In 1530 Henry VIII had been married to Catherine of Aragon for 18 ...

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In 1530 Henry VIII had been married to Catherine of Aragon for 18 years however he felt she was too old to have a son. Henry needed a son to be his heir. He wanted to divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn who was young enough to give him a son. Only the Pope had the power to grant this and for political reasons he had to refuse. (The Pope was Catherine's nephew and a subject of Charles V, Henry's enemy). The matter dragged on for six long years and was only solved when Henry broke from the Church of Rome and set himself as supreme head of the Church of England. His Archbishop granted the divorce.

For years Henry had been involved in wars against the Holy Roman Empire in Europe and France. After Henry broke from the Catholic Church, England was protestant yet they remained Catholic. Until 1538 France and the Holy Roman Empire had been at war with each other, however they then signed a ten year truce, an invasion to re-establish the Pope's authority in England seemed inevitable.

Naturally, for Henry, defence became top priority. He assembled his fleet at Portsmouth, and appointed Commissioners to 'search and defend' the coastline. He intended to have a chain of forts and batteries around the island to protect major access ports and to prevent an enemy landing. Henry realised the South and South East coasts would be especially vulnerable from attack. He also realised new artillery was an important factor to consider and that enemy ships would be armed with guns. Henry realised that land gun platforms remained more effective and stable, and the range and mobility of the newest canons made pairing blockhouses a possible way to stop enemy landings on the Thames.

To guard the Thames and London there were two blockhouses built on the North bank at East and West Tilbury and three on the South at Gravesend. These blockhouses were built in 1539/40 and were designed by Christopher Morice and James Nedeman. They were sited where the river first begins to narrow after the estuary. The Tilbury and Gravesend forts guarded the important Gravesend/Tilbury ferry crossing. The plans of Gravesend and Tilbury blockhouses, the only ones known, show them to have been D-shaped structures of brick, two storeys high, with guns mounted in casements in the semi-circular front in the open roof. This design was atypical at the time as it was a new style of fort.

Henry created 3 lines of defence. Henry VIII was often called 'the father of the Navy' and his fleet was developed to keep British waters free from invaders. However if these were evaded of defeated the new castles on the South East coast would defend the country. His third line of defence were the blockhouses (e.g. Tilbury and Gravesend) guarding the entrance to the Thames and the route to London.

In 1667 the history of Tilbury changed after a trilogy of unfortunate events. The plague in 1665 and the Great fire of London in 1666 left England in a state of low population with a very poor economy. The Dutch Raid on the river Medway in 1667 finally made Charles II realise he had to improve his defences.

In 1664 a war broke out between England and Holland. In 1667 a series of reverses and bankruptcy forced the English government to bring in their warships and lay them unmanned. The Dutch, who had suffered attacks by the English fleets planned to avenge themselves by attacking the helpless British fleets.

The Dutch raid acted as a wake-up call to Charles II, as England had had a lucky escape. Security in England was not good, due to patriotic feeling from mutinous sailors who had not been paid. Fear that the country may come under attacks in its state of weakness led to the development of Tilbury Fort.

Tilbury Fort was designed by the king's chief engineer. Bernard de Gomme, and construction began in 1670. He was at the time working on forts in Medway but the raid caused him to turn his attention to Tilbury. Mathematics’ was clearly used in designing the fort which was typical for the Renaissance period. The design used angular bastions, but in a more advanced narrow head shape. Tilbury had a pentagonal design, bastion traces enclosed by broad moats and outworks which were often more extensive than the area they enclosed. Despite this Tilbury was a new design for this time and therefore it was generally atypical of other forts.

Tilbury Fort was built in 1670 to protect the heavy guns positioned on the river bank. The fort had typical Renaissance design features of classical Roman influence. The Romans were a symbol of power, to share similarities with them warned England’s enemies that it too was a force to be reckoned with. The Roman and Greek influence can most clearly be seen in the pillars and pediments.

Tilbury Fort was very similar to others built at the time including Gravesend, Milton and other fortifications in France. Charles' fort in Ireland was almost identical to Tilbury, having been built during the same period.

Their were many factors affecting Tilbury these were:

Government

War

Individuals

Geography

Religion

Communications

Technology

Economy

War and Government were the most import and the most dominating factors affecting Tilbury Fort.

Tilbury developed into such an important fortified site during the Renaissance mainly because of Henry VIII and Charles II who were both aiming to defend the country due to being worried about an invading foreign threat. They perceived this threat and both built up Tilbury with blockhouses, coastal forts (e.g. Deal castle) etc. Both designs for their Tilbury Fort were new at the time and were atypical. The differences between their reasons for defending England was Charles' was more tangible (you could see it and touch it) as the Dutch had already invaded whereas with Henry the Holy Roman Empire had not shown any signs of a prepared invasion.

By Charlotte Strong