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Everyone knows at least one date in English history - 1066 - the year the invading Normans defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. In fact the conflict took place some seven miles north of Hastings, at a place then called Senlac. Here, William...

The shell of Appuldurcombe, once the grandest house on the Isle of Wight and still an important example of English baroque Architecture: the 1701 east front has now been restored. It stands in 'Capability' Brown-designed grounds. An exhibition...

Audley End House and Gardens is one of England’s grandest 17th century country homes with over 30 lavishly decorated rooms and magnificent grounds.

The impressive ruins of an abbey of Premonstratensian 'white canons', on the Kent-Sussex border. They include much of the 13th to 15th-century church, the chapter house, and a picturesque 14th-century gatehouse. Now set in a landscape designed by...

The ruins of a medieval palace (together with later additions) used by the Bishops and senior clergy of Winchester as they travelled through their diocese. Winchester was the richest diocese in England, and its properties were grandiose and...

This artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to defend the sea passage to Southampton, was recently used as a Navy and RAF base.

The ruins of an unusually unaltered artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to guard the port of Rye. There are monthly guided walks round Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, including the castle. Contact the Reserve Manager for further details.

Crowning a hilltop south of Newport, Carisbrooke Castle has been the key to the Isle of Wight's security for more than nine centuries. With its high Norman shellkeep at the core of everexpanded circuits of defences, Carisbrooke Castle is an exciting...

Deal Castle is one of the finest Tudor artillery castles in England. It is among the earliest and most elaborate of a chain of coastal forts, which also includes Calshot, Camber,Walmer and Pendennis Castles. Most were built 'with all speed, and...

Fully restored and re-equipped with its cannon, this is one of 103 ingeniously-designed artillery towers, built from 1805 at vulnerable points around the south and east coasts to resist threatened Napoleonic invasion.

The impressive motte, shellkeep, bailey wall and other defences of a castle founded in 1138 and redeveloped by Henry II after 1155. Long a residence of the wealthy Bishops of Winchester, the fortress itself was abandoned after Civil War service: later...

One of the most advanced of the artillery fortresses built by Henry VIII: used as a prison for eminent 17th-century captives, and later strengthened during the 19th and 20th centuries. It commands the narrow entrance to the Solent.

One of the few excavated villas fully open to visitors, Lullingstone provides a unique opportunity to trace Roman domestic life over three centuries. Begun in about AD 75, the villa was frequently altered to suit the tastes and beliefs of...

Originating as a 13th-century wayside hospital, this flint and timber-framed building now displays Roman artefacts from nearby sites.

John Fortin, a merchant who traded with Bordeaux, started building this house c. 1290. A residence and place of business, it stood on one of the busiest streets in medieval Southampton. Now restored to its mid-14th-century appearance by the removal of...

Mainly encased in brick but still retaining its 14th-century timber roof, this was in turn part of a hospital, a chantry chapel, a public house, and a Georgian barracks, before its basement became a World War II gas decontamination chamber. The building...

After her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, Queen Victoria felt the need for a family residence in the country. To use her words, 'a place of one's own - quiet and retired'. Queen Victoria knew and liked the Isle of Wight after visiting as a child, and...

With a history stretching back over 16 centuries, Pevensey Castle chronicles more graphically than any other fortress the story of Britain's south coast defences. Beginning in the 4th century as one of the last and strongest of the Roman 'Saxon Shore'...

Portchester Castle's commanding location has made it a major factor in the Solent's defences for hundreds of years. The most impressive and bestpreserved of the Roman 'Saxon Shore' forts, Portchester was originally built in the late 3rd century. It is...

Strategically placed astride the London Road, guarding an important crossing of the River Medway, this imposing fortress has a complex history of destruction and rebuilding. Its mighty Norman tower-keep of Kentish ragstone was built c. 1127 by William of...