Rufus Castle

Rufus Castle, also known as Bow and Arrow Castle, is a partially ruined Blockhouse overlooking Church Ope Cove on Portland, England. The names "Rufus Castle" and "Bow and Arrow Castle" have been widely used since the late 18th Century. It was originally speculated that Rufus referred to King William II, known as William Rufus, however more recent assessments also identify Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester (the Red Earl) as a possible origin for the name.

The existing structure dates largely from the late 15th century, making it Portland's oldest surviving defensive structure. Built on a pinnacle of rock, some of the original structure has been lost to erosion and collapse over the years.

The remaining castle appears to have been the keep of a stronghold, the foundation of which was much above the top of the church tower of St Andrews which lay in the valley below. The pentagonal tower of the castle has late Medieval gun holes but rests on an earlier foundation to the north and stepped plinth to the west which may have been a 12th-century keep. Remains include parts of the keep, sections of wall with gun ports and a 19th-century round-arched bridge across Church Ope Road.

Text adapted from “Rufus Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rufus Castle ranks #103 of 6,412 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #41 of the 233 mapped in England. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 84% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 337 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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