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PREVIOUS PAGE -Decay set in until Henry VIII’s requirements to defend the kingdom gave rise to huge defence expenditure. In c.1539, a new bulwark, built by Sir Thomas Sperte, was constructed close be the old blockhouse. Probably an earthwork, strengthened with wooden stakes, it was provided with 8 guns, the largest being demi-culverings (9 pounders), and manned by a Captain and three gunners. In a logical move, the blockhouse was disarmed. The new bulwark, which allowed the defenders of Stokes Bay a chance to escape across the harbour entrance if driven back by an enemy landing, also adequately reinforced the defences of the chain. Yet another ‘peace dividend’ caused parlous neglect, noted by the first recorded Royal visitor, in 1552. Some minor work was carried out during the ‘Armada’ scare and the bulwark was certainly still manned in 1608. By the Civil War, in which Blockhouse played no part, little probably remained of these earlier structures, but the impact of this war was to be felt at Blockhouse for the next two centuries. For those who had failed to appreciate it earlier. action at Gosport proved quite conclusively to all that Portsmouth could only be held by controlling both sides of the harbour. NEXT PAGE
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