Editing Blockhouse (section)

== Early blockhouses in England ==
[[File:Mount Edgcumbe blockhouse.jpg|thumb|The [[Henry VIII of England|Henrican]] blockhouse at [[Mount Edgcumbe Country Park|Mount Edgcumbe]] near Plymouth, Devon, which is believed to date from ''circa'' 1545]]

Early blockhouses were designed solely to protect a particular area by the use of artillery, and they had accommodation only for the short-term use of the garrison. The first known example is the [[Cow Tower, Norwich]], built in 1398, which was of brick and had three storeys with the upper storeys pierced for six guns each.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block1.htm|title=Definition of a Blockhouse|access-date=28 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605230950/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block1.htm|archive-date=5 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The major period of construction was in the [[Device Forts|maritime defence programmes]] of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] between 1539 and 1545.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block2.htm|title=Blockhouse dates|access-date=28 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605231011/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block2.htm|archive-date=5 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> They were built to protect important maritime approaches such as the [[Thames Estuary]], the [[Solent]], and [[Plymouth]]. Often sited in pairs, the blockhouses were not built to a common design, but usually consisted of a stone tower and [[bastion]] or gun platform, which could be semi-circular, rectangular or irregular in shape.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block3.htm|title=Blockhouse general description|access-date=28 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605231017/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/block3.htm|archive-date=5 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The last blockhouse of this type was [[Cromwell's Castle]], built in [[Scilly]] in 1651.