Warblington Castle and Medieval History
The Countess of Salisbury, the castle and the ancient church
Warblington is the most historically significant site in the Havant borough, with a story that connects this quiet harbour-side parish to some of the great dramas of English history. The ruins of Warblington Castle and the ancient church of St Thomas a Becket stand together on a low rise overlooking Langstone Harbour, in a setting that has changed remarkably little over the centuries.
The church of St Thomas a Becket has Saxon origins, and the building contains fabric from the eleventh century and possibly earlier. The church was dedicated to the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. The building has been altered and added to over the centuries but retains its ancient core. The churchyard, with its mature yew trees and views across the harbour, is one of the most peaceful places in the Havant area.
Warblington Castle was built in the early sixteenth century as a fortified manor house for the Pole family. The most prominent figure associated with the castle is Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who was one of the last surviving members of the Plantagenet royal family. Born in 1473, Margaret was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and a niece of Edward IV and Richard III. Her Plantagenet blood made her politically dangerous to the Tudor dynasty.
Henry VIII initially favoured Margaret Pole, appointing her governess to Princess Mary. But as the political situation shifted and Henry's break with Rome created new allegiances and enmities, Margaret's position became precarious. Her son, Reginald Pole, had gone into exile in Rome and openly opposed Henry's religious policies. In 1539, Margaret was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. She was executed on 27 May 1541, at the age of sixty-seven, in what was by all accounts a brutal and botched affair.
The castle was subsequently damaged during the English Civil War in the 1640s and was never restored. The surviving tower, an octagonal structure of flint and brick, stands as a gaunt reminder of the building's former scale. Fragments of wall are visible in the surrounding ground.
The combination of the ancient church, the castle ruins, the open farmland and the harbour views makes Warblington one of the most atmospheric historic sites on the Hampshire coast. The site is freely accessible, and the walk down Church Lane from the modern residential streets to the medieval landscape of the church and castle is one of the quiet pleasures of the Havant area.
The combination of the ancient church, the castle ruins, the open farmland and the harbour views makes Warblington one of the most atmospheric historic sites on the Hampshire coast. The site is freely accessible, and the walk down Church Lane from the modern residential streets to the medieval landscape of the church and castle is one of the quiet pleasures of the Havant area. Few places in south Hampshire offer such a concentrated sense of deep history in such an accessible and peaceful setting. Warblington deserves to be better known, and those who discover it for the first time rarely forget the experience of standing beside the ruined tower with the harbour stretching away to the south.