Qualla: Calshot Castle https://qualla.com/calshot-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:21 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Calshot Castle https://qualla.com/calshot-castle Calshot Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/calshot-castle/ Photo credit Geni, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the 1920s, racing seaplanes thundered across Southampton Water within sight of a small round castle that Henry VIII had built to fire cannons at the French. Calshot Castle, perched on a shingle spit where Southampton Water meets the Solent, had somehow transitioned from Tudor artillery fort to First World War seaplane station to host venue for the Schneider Trophy air races -- and it was not done reinventing itself yet.

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Image: Geni | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/gcp1-calshot-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Calshot Castle: Henry's Device on the Spit https://qualla.com/calshot-castle/ Photo credit CT Cooper, Public domain. Henry VIII ordered Calshot Castle built between 1539 and 1540 as part of his Device programme, a chain of forts raised along the English coast after the Pope encouraged France and the Holy Roman Empire to invade. The castle was one of four forts defending the Solent approaches, a...

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Image: CT Cooper | Public domain

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/gcp1-calshot-castle-henrys-device-on-the-spit.mp3 0:06 2 full Calshot Castle: From Smugglers to Seaplanes https://qualla.com/calshot-castle/ Photo credit Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0. By the 19th century, Calshot Castle had been handed to the coastguard for combating smuggling, its military purpose seemingly spent. But in 1894, fears of French torpedo boats revived its martial role. The War Office built a new coastal battery south of the old castle and strung ...

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Image: Phil Champion | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/gcp1-calshot-castle-from-smugglers-to-seaplanes.mp3 0:06 3 full Calshot Castle: The Trophy and the Flying Boats https://qualla.com/calshot-castle/ Photo credit Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0. The inter-war years transformed Calshot Spit from military outpost to aviation landmark. The Royal Air Force took over, establishing RAF Calshot with a School for Naval Co-operation and Aerial Navigation. The 1895 battery was demolished to make room, and parts of the castle's moa...

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Image: Phil Champion | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/gcp1-calshot-castle-the-trophy-and-the-flying-boats.mp3 0:06 4 full Calshot Castle: A Castle Against the Tide https://qualla.com/calshot-castle/ Photo credit Gillian Moy, CC BY-SA 2.0. After the war, Calshot hosted Sunderland flying boats that took part in the Berlin Airlift of 1948, but military seaplanes were becoming obsolete. The RAF station closed in 1961. English Heritage took over in 1983, stripping away 20th-century additions to restore the castle to it...

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Image: Gillian Moy | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/calshot-castle-wp/gcp1-calshot-castle-a-castle-against-the-tide.mp3 0:06 5 full