The fort is an unusual example of an unmodified Device Fort and is protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building. History 16th – 17th centuries Initial tower, 1512–14 Camber Castle was built approximately between the ports of Rye and Winchelsea on the south coast of England, overlooking a body of water called the Camber, at the mouth of the Brede, Rother and Tillingham rivers. The two towns were part of the Cinque Ports, a strategic chain of maritime towns responsible for providing ships to the king's navy, although Winchelsea's harbour had silted up by the 16th century, limiting its utility, and similar problems were beginning to impact the port of Rye. The mouth of the Camber had also begun to silt up in the late medieval period, although in this case the process had created an important new anchorage for ships. The first fortification at Camber may have been built shortly after 1486 by Sir Richard Guldeford, the Master of the Ordnance, who was given the manor of Higham by King Henry VII in exchange for Richard constructing a tower to protect the anchorage. There is no surviving evidence, however, to show if a tower was in fact built as Guldeford had promised, and Henry VII did not invest much in his coastal defences during the rest of his reign. Many castles across England were left in poor repair, often considered to be outdated and too expensive to maintain. Henry VIII became king in 1509 and began to follow a more aggressive policy towards neighbouring France than his father. Tensions increased and in 1512 Henry ordered the construction of an artillery tower and a new bridge at Camber. The work was carried out by Edward Guldeford, Richard's son, and cost £1,309 over the next two years. The resulting circular stone tower was across and around high, occupying the shingle spit of Kevill Point and controlling the Camber and the port of Rye. It would have provided relatively limited facilities and living accommodation, and was probably not permanently garrisoned. Despite being an artillery tower with a flat roof to carry heavy guns, the tower was not initially supplied with any artillery and was therefore unable to protect Rye against the hostile naval expeditions which attacked the coast in the 1520s. After many letters from Guldeford to the Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, some guns finally arrived around 1536