place

Calshot Marshes

Local Nature Reserves in Hampshire
Calshot Marshes geograph.org.uk 859489
Calshot Marshes geograph.org.uk 859489

Calshot Marshes is a 51.1-hectare (126-acre) Local Nature Reserve near Calshot, at the junction of The Solent and Southampton Water in Hampshire. It is owned by Hampshire County Council and managed by Hampshire Countryside Service. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation and of Hythe to Calshot Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.This saltmarsh site is internationally important for dark-bellied brent geese and nationally important for wigeon, teal, ringed plover, grey plover, black-tailed godwit, redshank and dunlin.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Calshot Marshes (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Calshot Marshes
Channel Mouth Road, New Forest Fawley

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Calshot MarshesContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.818 ° E -1.316 °
placeShow on map

Address

Calshot Marsh Nature Reserve

Channel Mouth Road
SO45 1TW New Forest, Fawley
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Calshot Marshes geograph.org.uk 859489
Calshot Marshes geograph.org.uk 859489
Share experience

Nearby Places

Calshot Castle
Calshot Castle

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. During the First World War, Calshot Castle was primarily used as a base for seaplanes, deployed on anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel; its guns were removed before the end of the war, probably for use in France. The air base, by then called RAF Calshot, grew in size during the inter-war years, hosting the Schneider Trophy air races. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Calshot was re-armed in the face of a possible German invasion. The station continued in use after the war, but as military seaplanes became obsolete, it was finally closed in 1961. After a short period of use by the coastguard, the castle was opened to the public by English Heritage in the 1980s. Restored to its pre-1914 appearance, the castle received 5,751 visitors in 2010. Historic England considers Calshot a "well-preserved example" of King Henry's Device Forts.