Cowes Castle Isle of Wight

Cowes Castle. Antique print of Cowes Castle, here titled West Cowes Castle, is a Device Fort in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Originally built by Henry VIII in 1539 to protect England against the threat of invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, it comprised a circular bastion, flanking wings and a keep, and in 1547 it housed 17 pieces of artillery. Antique copper-plate engraving dated in the plate 21 May 1784. Size of engraved area approx 5x6ins.