Calshot Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII on the Calshot Spit, Hampshire, England, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire and defend Southampton Water as it met the Solent. The castle had a keep at its centre, surrounded by a curtain wall and a moat. Initially heavily armed, it had a garrison of 16 men and as many as 36 artillery guns. The castle continued in use for many years, surviving the English Civil War intact and being extensively modernised in the 1770s. During the 19th century, Calshot Castle was used by the coastguard as a base for combating smuggling. In 1894, however, fresh fears of a French invasion led to it being brought back into use as an artillery fort: a large coastal battery was constructed alongside the older castle and a boom built across Southampton Water, controlled from the castle.
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Bicester
Bicester is a market town located in the north-east of the English county of Oxfordshire, some miles north of the university town of Oxford. It has become a popular destination on account of its being the location of Bicester Village, a large factory and designer outlet shopping village.
51.9-1.15Southampton
Southampton is a port city on England's South East coast. It was the departure point for many trans-Atlantic crossings, perhaps most famously including the ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.
50.9098-1.4044Hampshire
Stretching from the New Forest's coastal beaches in the south west, to London's suburban fringe in the north east, Hampshire is the largest county in South East England. Known as Jane Austen's County after its most famous daughter, Hampshire has a wealth of attractions to offer the traveller. Visitors may see one of England's greatest cathedrals in Winchester, ascend to the top of the South's tallest landmark in Portsmouth or fish for trout in crystal clear chalk rivers.
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