target up to between and away. In July 1545, the French carried out a raid at nearby Seaford, and the castle may have seen action against the French fleet. Soon, however, silt began to block the entrance to the Camber, threatening its use as an anchorage. Complaints were made to Parliament about the situation in 1548, and the authorities in Rye expressed fears in 1573 that the Camber was damaged beyond repair. By the end of the century, the reclamation of the surrounding marshes and the dumping of ballast by passing ships had accelerated the natural processes and the anchorage was ruined. The surrounding region was also less strategically important than it had once been: towns like Winchelsea and Rye were in decline, peace had been made with France in 1558 and military attention shifted towards the Spanish threat to the south-west of England. The castle was garrisoned from 1553 onwards by between 26 and 27 men, including 17 gunners; they were led by a captain, Thomas Wilford having taken over this role by 1570. As the century went on, the castle became difficult to maintain. By 1568 the gun platforms were reported to be in "utter Ruing and decay", with repairs projected to be likely to cost around £60, although it is unclear whether the repairs were carried out. Tensions between Spain and England rose, and in 1584 Queen Elizabeth I spent £171 on repairs to the castle amid fresh fears of an invasion. War broke out the next year, and in 1588, the year of the Spanish Armada, a Jesuit priest called Father Darbysher, and Roger Walton, a spy in the pay of the Spanish, made plans to hand over the castle to an invading force of French and Spanish soldiers, although the conspiracy never came to fruition. In 1593 there was a fresh crisis with Spain and the brass guns needed for the English navy were in short supply. Brass artillery pieces were therefore rounded up from the forts along the south coast, including Camber. The number of guns at the castle remained around the same, but the larger, brass culverins and demi-cannon were removed, being replaced with smaller iron demi-culverins, sakers and a minion. In 1594 another royal survey suggested that £95 of repair work was needed on the fortifications. 17th – 19th centuries Closure and English Civil War Camber Castle went through several changes at