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LANDGUARD, a headland and a fort in Felixtow parish, Suffolk. The headland projects southward at the month of the rivers Orwell and Stour; lies 1½ mile ESE of Harwich, in Essex; is connected by an isthmus, at low water, with Walton-Colness; but forms, at high water, an island nearly a mile distant from the mainland. The Danes, in 880, lost 16 ships in an action with King Alfred off this headland; and they sailed past it, and up the Orwell, in 1014. The fort on it was built, in the time of James I., for defending Harwich and the Orwell; was strengthened in the time of Charles II.; was afterwards enlarged and improved, so as to mount 20 guns on traversing platforms, with an auxiliary battery between two towers; had 184 soldiers at the census of 1861; and is now used as a depôt for troops of the line, and as a rifle practice-ground. A lighthouse, with a revolving light, was erected in 1848; but latterly became unserviceable. See Harwich.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))
Linked entities: | |
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Feature Description: | "a headland and a fort" (ADL Feature Type: "capes") |
Administrative units: | Felixstowe CP/AP Suffolk AncC |
Place: | Landguard |
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