The Gatehouse website record for Fort Charles, Salcombe

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Salcombe Castle; 'The Old Bulwarke'

In the civil parish of Salcombe. In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).

Artillery Fort situated on a natural rock island near the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, built in the 1540s probably as part of Henry VIII's coastal defence works. It was refortified in 1643-5 and re-named `Fort Charles'. It was held for the King in the Civil War and surrendered to Parlimentary forces after a siege in 1646. It was dismantled in 1647. A small watch tower was built onto the ruins of Fort Charles in C18 or C19. A tower remains standing with the foundations of a bastion visible. (PastScape)
Fort Charles, otherwise known as Salcombe Castle, is a ruined building situated on a low rocky island at the mouth of Salcombe Harbour. This sub-triangular shaped island of resistant schist measures approximately 36.0m by 25.0m and it stands just above the high tide line although it is linked to the mainland at low tide. Much of the castle, dominated by the crumbling cliffs of the mainland, has been destroyed either deliberatly or to some extent by the destructive action of the sea. The surviving walling. located chiefly on the landward side of the island is quite impressive and comprises (a) a semi-circular tower with a short stretch of walling on its east side; (b) an isolated stack of walling and a length of angular wall; (c) on the seaward side, an "island" of masonry crowned by a small circular building.
a) The semi-circular tower is constructed of local coursed rubble with, near its top, two square gun-ports as well as the possible remains of a third. This bowed wall which incorporates numerous ?put log holes, rises to a maximum height of c.7.0m and is approximately 1.8m thick. The weather-worn and crumbling southern end is apparently double-skinned being about 3.1m thick. The wall on the eastern side is 5.0m long and now ends in a collapsed state on the edge of a rock outcrop. Internally these walls are covered with ivy and the lower parts are submerged under dense thicket.
b) The tall stack of angular walling perched on a rock at the N corner of the island may represent the remains of a square tower. It stands to a height of c.6.0m and is set at an odd angle to the main wall on the SW side. The short length of walling on its southern side, on higher ground, is up to 2.5m high; both walls of coursed stone construction show evidence of repair.
c) The south side of the island is regularly swept by storm tides and as a consequence the surface layer of soil and stone along with any structures and even possibly some of the island itself has been washed away. The 'D' shaped bastion noted by Colvin (5) cannot now be traced however a curious circular building set on a stack of masonry survives on the rocky plateau.
The sub-triangular shaped stack of masonry is 4.0m long, 2.5m wide and 3.0m high; it could be part of the original fabric of the castle wall or it may have been constructed from reused material. The circular building on its top, approached by a flight of crude steps, is constructed of coursed stone blocks with small fillerstones. It has a domed stone roof with a flat headed door located on the landward side and four embrasured slit windows which offer an over 180 degree vista across the mouth of the estuary. It stands to a height of 2.5m and is 2.0m in diameter externally with an 0.9m internal diameter. It is probably a lookout but its date is unclear. (PastScape–Field Investigators Comments-F1 MJF 29-SEP-86)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX73373806

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 444277
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.