Sandsfoot Castle: Future of Henry VIII fortress unclear

Sandsfoot Castle sits atop the cliff above Weymouth and Portland Harbour but the scheduled monument is "at risk"

The future of a castle built by Henry VIII and which has been put on an "at risk" register is to be debated.

Sandsfoot Castle, which sits on a cliff between Weymouth and Portland, in Dorset, was fenced off to the public after cracks appeared in January 2021.

Built in 1539, options range from doing nothing to high-cost cliff stabilisation work.

Councillor Luke Wakeling said: "It'd be a great shame if no efforts were made to save it".

The castle is a Scheduled Monument and Historic England has carried out a structural survey.

Officers from Dorset Council, which owns the castle, will meet with Historic England, Weymouth Town Council, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast Trust to discuss what can be done.

'Much-loved landmark'

In November 2021, the castle was added to Historic England's At Risk Register after cracks were spotted and health and safety concerns were raised.

Councillor Tony Ferrari, Dorset Council's portfolio holder for assets and property, said while the castle was a "much-loved local landmark, it does sit at the top of a very unstable cliff, which is rapidly eroding".

"Significant defence works would have the most impact on the Jurassic Coast and be the most expensive option," he added.

"At the other end of the scale, we could make no intervention. This would eventually result in the loss of this Scheduled Monument."

The question for the people of Dorset was whether to let it "succumb to the elements", spend "lots of money" or try to find a "middle ground which will do both", he said.

Mr Wakeling said he was also concerned about Old Castle Road, the residential street which runs alongside it.

"At some stage the council will have to reinforce that cliff, even if the castle goes because they'll have to prevent the houses being washed away, so on that basis alone I'm optimistic a solution can be found", he said.