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Photo: Troxx, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Strictly speaking, two castles. The Medieval fortress dates back 600 years while the more recent building was still in use during the Second World War. It is under the care of English Heritage.
Dartmouth Castle is an artillery fort, built to protect Dartmouth harbour in Devon, England. The earliest parts of the castle date from the 1380s, when, in response to the threat of a French attack, the civic authorities created a small enclosure castle overlooking the mouth of the Dart estuary. This was intended to engage enemy ships with catapults and possibly early cannon, and incorporated the local chapel of Saint Petroc within its walls. At the end of the 15th century, the castle was expanded with an artillery tower and an iron chain which could be stretched across the harbour to a tower at Godmerock; this addition formed the oldest known purpose-built coast artillery fort in Britain. Further gun batteries were added during the French invasion scare of the 1540s.
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Has some of the most stunning views in the country! Probably a monk's cell when first recorded in 1192 (it has been rebuilt - in the 17th century.) This church has an interesting collection of brasses and family memorials. Well worth a visit - perhaps by river taxi.
The Pilgrim Fathers set sail from here in 1620 in the Mayflower and Speedwell (but hit problems and had to go to Plymouth until they could continue their journey). Bayards Cove Fort was the last line of defence against foreign intruders. During the 1970s this area found fame as a setting for TV's The Onedin Line.
Consecrated in 1372 on the site of an earlier chapel and rebuilt during the 1630s. The church contains a fine wooden screen and an exceptional 14th-century door. It contains the famous Hawley Brass.
Occupying the first floor of an old merchant's house. The collection includes many ship models, pictures and artefacts of this ancient town together with much local and maritime information.
Coventry Canal Engine
One of the town's star attractions. It is well worth visiting Thomas Newcomen's famous engine if only to feel very small standing beside this huge machine!
To get to Dartmouth's railway station, you must take a ferry to Kingswear the other side of the river. The railway reached Kingswear in 1864 and remained part of the network until 1971. Today steam trains run throughout most of the year except March.