I've been visiting Hurst ever since I was a young lad, on one of my more recent visits we took photos of a cleary undermined castle wall. This was months before the collapse. This was allowed to happen as simple as that.

It must be restored!

When you consider that the part that has collapsed faces the I O W and is exposed to streams of up to 4.4 knots at spring tides I think it has survived very well considering the years it has exsisted.

My home Territory, beautiful place on a beautiful day. Thanks Dan.

Hurst Spit is one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

Pendennis Castle and St Mawes Castle, guarding Falmouth Harbour, on the other end of the South Coast, are also worth a visit. They were also used up to WW2.

Brilliant Dan Snow. A great film. We were out in our kayak and paddled to Hurst a couple of weeks ago and sailed with a friend right past the fallen wall last week. This is my local area and stay fully aware of the natural beauty of The New Forest and Solent.

Grew up round Milford & Keyhaven , My brother was Commadore of keyhaven yacht club , wed sail to Hurst or walk from Milford have tea in the cafe in a little wooden hut , the tides really travell down that spit , Brother had his 60th birthday party there . Beautiful bit of the world . Milford Beach the wall was made out of old stone from Netley Hospital where florence nightingale did her lamp stuff , that was on Weston Shore on Southampton water . So wed climb over these rocks as kids. The Sea forts in the Solent are a bit of a narvel to , round forts coming out of the Sea

I could watch and watch videos like this plus many other category's for hours, amazing.

The fact they were never used is the exact reason why they worked 100%.

This was a absolute treat. I'm loving this channel!! Cheers!

Maybe Henry's forts saw little action and the money might have been better spent on a fleet of warships but on the other hand perhaps they had a deterrent effect against possible invasions by France or the Empire? That would mean they served their purpose.

undermined by sheer bloody stupidity and poor managment...shoulda had defence works kept up properly for decades woulda still be perfectly intacr . letting it get like this was treason ...

Nature, the most powerful opponent!

Shame to see things so broken. An old haunt from when I was a kid.

The exposed brickwork at 5:35 is kind of cool to get a look at.. They certainly weren't mucking around when they built it.

Cracking documentary. This channel is a goldmine

Hi, they repaired the roof a few years ago , lets hope the walls get the needed repairs , many a sunny day spent up there , in our rib . Nice video Dan .

Thank you for risking life and limb to bring this story to us :)

I was hoping they'd visit Henry VIII's Castle in Weymouth, Sandsfoot Castle.

Wrong Dan! A castle that never fires a shot has fulfilled its task very well. Same with an army etc.

Narrated with excellence. Cheers Mr. Snow.

I used to go fishing from there when I worked in Lymington & New Milton/Highcliffe as a chef.OMG! Wow! That is damaged.

I paddle board here a lot .. King Charles 1st apparently haunts the battlements. They could have repaired the castle as it wasn’t unknown and saved a fortune 🤷🏻

OMG, I totally missed this in the news.

Very interesting! How about doing another video on "Palmerston's follies" which is the ring of huge, red-brick forts that Lord Palmerston built in the 19th Century around Portsmouth, to defend primarily the landward side of the city against a possible attack from Napoleonic France. And how, once built, they had to be manned by volunteers, as Parliament was too stingy to provide a paid garrison for each fort, and how they were not even fitted with the cannon they needed to function as forts, until the 1860's, when the cannon had become obsolete anyway! Nobody seems the least bit interested in these forts, yet if you go to Portsmouth, they are unavoidable, situated on Portsdown Hill overlooking the city.

Excellent filming and presentation.

Hey Dan. Long time fan here - I watched your Battle Castle series and bought the tie-in book. This video combined two of my favourite things: castles and kayaking. One little point for next time: with a paddle that has asymmetrical blades, putting the longer sides down can feel pretty logical; it seems like that would grab the most water and give you the most power. In fact, you want to put the longer sides uppermost (usually so the maker's name is on top and facing upright.) The idea is that with the paddle entering the water at an angle rather than vertical, less of the blade above the centre line is submerged. So by having a bit more length on the upper side, you get approximately equal surface areas submerged on either side of the blade's centre line, which means the paddle has less tendency to twist in your hands as you pull it through the water, and won't require a tiring "death grip". If this helps you learn a little something, I'd be delighted, since I've learned so much from you.

So few views, yet this is a superb, terrestrial broadcast quality history documentary. Personally speaking, I should be all over this channel, but 2020’s tweets about ‘checking and examining privilege’ dissolved almost all objective credibility in the channel, and its presenters away. For me, at least. And yet, this is truly excellent. Wonderful even. Pity. I’ve lost so much trust in so many once-coveted educators, and seen so many more cast aside.

Excellent and I did not know it existed!

How on earth was that allowed to happen ?! Is there no one or government group that maintains these historic sites ?

Excellent content 👍

There is a techncial difference between a fort and a castle. Both are a form of fortification, but a castle is also a residence for a local leader. It seems to me that Hurst can be repaired and rip-rap laid down to prevent future erosion and undermining.

Living on the Isle Of Wight I have looked across the Solent many times at Hurst, such a shame to see it fall into disrepair. Yarmouth Castle is worth a visit and there are some surperb walks near by. One question, I know that Charles 1 was inprisioned in Carisbrook Castle but was not aware of Hurst Castle is this correct?

I can remember seeing those battlements, It is a shame so many things that old have to come down, but like almost all buildings even stone they will come down, the question is just time.

The thing about fortifications like this is that even if they never see battle that doesn't necessarily mean they didnt fulfill their purpose. Its impossible to say if or how often they've deterred an attack that otherwise would have taken place if the coast had been undefended.

I passed Yarmouth Castle almost daily for a whole year and never knew it was there

There was a problem with building battleships and defending the coast further out to see as you said, submarines and aircraft put battleships out of date you see, but coastal defences survive everywhere. One near Manilla in the Phillipines has a rather interesting history.

Hydraulic concrete could be pumped under the building. But, its still just a matter of time. Nice looking castle, what remains of it.

Dan, you're an exceptional presenter and historian, and we don't want to lose you. So please, please, next time you go kayaking, can do yer lifejacket up properly?

need a crew out there quickly. collecting the stuff that fell into the water and clean it up and store it inland abit near the castle. so it can be put back on. Then need another crew after all that is done. to bring in like barges with loads of sand, dirt, rocks, boulders and start expanding the coastline the castle sits on. by like 200+ feet ( 61+ Meters ) It would help keep the sea water away from the castle for abit of time, While a Plan is made to be able to fortify the stability of the Castle. I mean Unless the People Dont Care about it. Then just let it get ruined more and more until its all gone.

Love That Dan. This Mate.

Ironically, a fortification that was never used for its intended purpose, most likely did what it was intended for :P

Missed Netley Castle which has a direct link to the dissolution of the monastries.

We should find a use for them. If they can be used,they will be protected.Constructs only come “alive”,if they are used.

Dan i think you need to go on a kayaking course.

Cant help but keep noticing the more modern weaponry on the top of the last castle, was this also a flak/AA emplacement in WW2?

What a shame! Might not be the best looking castle but should be restored.

Must be handy when all these are within 10 miles from your house Dan 😁

"You're better off spending the money in building battleships out at sea, which can stop an enemy fleet far off your shore". Um. WW2, Oscarsborg Fortress, off Oslo in Norway. The Battle of Drøbak Sound. Norway's ageing coastal fort, relegated to a training role, managed to sink Germany's latest high-tech (for the time) battle cruiser, the Blücher, with canon and torpedoes. Coastal forts work, just not normally as well as you might hope ;)

All they needed to do was drop in some Concrete tetrapod to prevent erosion and they look pretty good in my view. I've worked with British councils and they are incredibly disorganised and corrupt.

I think the massive dredging operation that was done to allow American Aircraft carriers passage into the Solent in all probability caused accelerated erosion / undercutting here. It also decimated local fishing / crabbing / lobster grounds. Was it worth it ? Responsibility needs to be taken.

As we all know, Henry's first wife was Catherine of Aragorn, whose nephew defeated the armies of Mordor to become King of Gondor. Isn't history wonderful.

Hurst Castle is not a castle. It's a fort. A castle is an administrative centre, fortified and secure, the home of the local ruler, his administrators, soldiers, and retinue. A fort is a purely military structure staffed by soldiers only.

the best fort i have ever visited is fort george on the moray firth . the defences are incredible . some of the walls are 10 meters thick .

Wow

I agree with Stuart Little

I walked from the Keyhaven side to Hurst Castle back in the summer. A beautiful area with the lighthouse and castle. I hope it will be repaired. If not I could see the rest of that side of the castle collapsing too.

Why can't a breaker be built around the castle to stop waves crashing into walls ?

Dan you're using your paddle both upside down and back to front.

RiP Chimney @16:50

English heritage can repair it.

I have to disagreee that the various fortifications built to defend the coast didn't do a good job. Ever heard of a deterrrent? Like Nukes, it's not that you would ever use them, it's just that without them you don't have a deterrent to stop anybody trying. So perhaps when you say "they would have been better to sail out to sea for the battle". Maybe the battles happened out at sea because the forts existed?

Pendragon castle in Cumbria has fallen into ruin! If the Americans had anything like as good as this it would be a prime US treasure! Sad that we just don't care!

This will be repaired as it’s a grade 1 listed building!!

Nothings for ever, I hope they won’t waste money trying to rebuild it

Why did I read Henry Cavill’s fortess…?

👍

NOTHING lasts for ever.

pause at 6:51, allowed to happpen, makes me think - if you had spend the money making this mini doc on dumping a few hundred tonnes of boulders around the foundations, like they have all round the other parts, this would not have hapened, i mean the sureing up of the rest has worked well, just they have not bothered doing that side and this is the result of that lack of action., i know national heritage isnt rolling in money but this is our history, literally falling in to the sea because they have not bothered... sad given the ammount we pay our politicians ect

Can you make your content inclusive and accessible by formatting the auto captioning into closed captioning? it is sadly very hard to watch relying only on the auto captioning (Im Profoundly Deaf)

A strong TV frontman would cover the current destruction of the largest starmap in the world. Wales is not within remit so sadly a cause that our children shall regret .

Inherited infrastructure just like here in the US. It’s everywhere!

Agggh.!! Tuned into this with great excitement and then saw Dan Snow's face climbing into a canoe. Such an egotistical but shallow reporter who often changes historical facts to put his own spin on the truth. A wannabe soldier in my books who has never actually walked the walk. His analysis of the importance of the Solent defences is totally wide of the mark. He should educate himself on military history.

England and WALES. Tintern, Neath, Strata Florida , Talley.

Awful paddle technique. No rotation, no leg work. Wouldn't make Aldermaston.

Don’t worry about the damage to the fort…who in god’s name taught this guy how to paddle…..3 out of 5 strokes dont even touch the water. You’re right, luckily you got such a rare day of calm water, anything else and you’d be over in the Aegean or Indian Ocean….Clown.

Well, c'mon, it aint arf lasted.

Word on the street, the Romans built all these.😜

Flex paste.

Henry viii was a monster who had his own wives executed I se no reason to preserve is castle in fact we should demolish it and erase his legacy