Dartmouth’s castle was started in the 14th century - but when and why did castles go into decline in Britain?

Question

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Answer 1

Britains' castles were in decline at the time Dartmouth was begun. The advent of gunpowder, and the heavier artillery it could fire, meant that you couldn't really build a wall thick enough, and people stopped building castles, and started going for more detailed weapons. They really went out of favour, though, after the Civil War. Cromwell began to deface and dismantle the castles, both to show his disdain for the monarchy, and to ensure that they could not be used by opposition.

There was a revival in the 19th Century, when Victorians thought castles, and the tales of Arthur and chivalry that went with them, were romantic. But these new castles, built along the lines of faerie tales, were not made for defense, and are more "manor" than "castle." Even the older castles, originally built for defense, were redone in the newer style, incorporating new tastes in design and the reduced need for fortification.

Take Warwick, for example. Originally built by the Normans-in its' present incarnation, at least-this castle has been refurbished and redecorated so many times, it is now a house, and not a fortification at all. The same goes for many of the remaining castles.

Answer 2

Castles became obsolete with the coming of gun powder in the 14th Century. They didn't die out over night though. Modern day castles (such as the Maginot Line in France) were built in living memory. They became increasingly targets rather than places of safety as more powerful weapons were developed.

Answer 3

The castle fell into decline after fuedalism ended, and as more towns came to be more independent from their fuedel lords they were able to defend themselves.
The castle declined also because they were cold and damp and hard to maintain.
If I remember my history correctly, the tide began to turn in the 1300's to 1400's as the churches took dominance over the individuals lives.

Answer 4

I was under the impression that Dartmouth Castle was later than the 14th. Century: according to http://www.devon-online.com it was started in 1481, which is in the fifteenth century, and my recollection from visiting it years ago is that it was extensively remodelled by Henry VIII to contain guns.

Mention of Henry VIII brings us to your question about the decline of castles in Britain. Mediaeval castles were not suitable for defence against large guns: their walls were not thick enough and the solid masonry would splinter horribly if hit by a large cannon ball. Also, the castles did not have arrangements to place and fire guns out from the defences. When Henry VIII went to war against France in the 1540s he therefore built a series of castles to a quite different design from those of earlier centuries. Deal and Wlamer Castles in Kent, and St. Mawes Castle in Cornwall, are examples. These were much squatter than Mediaeval Castles, with thick circular bastions that could asorb incoming gunfire and provide placements for cannon to fire out.

Castles within Britian last saw fighting in the English Civil War. Cromwell and the Parliamentarians had a deliberate policy of "slighting" castles after their capture, i.e. undermining their walls so that they were no longer easily defensible. The 1640s therefore represent the time at which castles largely ceased to be of practical use as defences in the United Kingdom. Apart from anything else, there has not been subsequent fighting in Great Britain that has put them to the test. However, one might observe that certain castles, such as Edinburgh, Stirling and Dover, have had military associations much more recently. Dover, in particular, has extensive underground chambers and was within range of German shells in World War II.

Fortifications on the continent continued to develop after the seventeenth century: at places like Verdun they played a major part in the First World War. In Britain too, forts were built and upgraded into the nineteenth century in particular round naval bases such as Portsmouth and Chatham. These were in effect castles; but they were never in the event required to repel a landing or invasion (as opposed to bombing).

In principle the concepts behind the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall built in World War II were not dissimilar to those of a castle. However, the difficulties of preventing fortified positions against air attack, and in the end against nuclear warfare, mean that the age of castle-like fortifications is now past.

To summarise, the mediaeval castle became obsolete in the sixteenth century because of more powerful guns, However, a new generation of castles then provided adequate protection. Existing castles were destroyed in the English Civil War, and this is the end of practical use of castles as we think of them in Britain. However, forts not dissimilar to castles were built and use as defences at English ports into the nineteenth century. Castles, notably at Dover, continued to be of use in selected cases even into the Second World War. However, castles or similiar fortifications cannot cope with modern air power.

Answer 5

castles declined with the appearance of canon as a siege weapon

Answer 6

Because of the increase in the use and effectiveness of artillery

Answer 7

as tactics and weaponry (cannons-guns-bombs) got more advanced they just became obsolete to other types of protection.