Things To See and Do
Visiting Portland Castle for the first time? Here are some of our highlights for the best things to see and do while exploring this exciting coastal artillery fort, including dressing up opportunities, where to go for the best viewsand details about that all-important snack stop: the tearoom.
Family Playtime
Become a Tudor soldier or Royalist Gunner when you try on the outfits and armour in the Armoury. Or challenge the family to a game of Shove Groats or Nine Men's Morris to experience evening entertainment Tudor style.
You can also make your own heraldic glass design using the replica pieces based on those discovered in the Captain's Chamber. Great family fun for all.
Explore the Tudor kitchen
Visit the kitchen at Portland Castle with its displays of food to learn about how staff would have prepared and cooked food for the troops based at the castle.
Find out how they stored the produce to keep it fresh and see the large fireplace where the meals would have been cooked. Handle the replica kitchen utensils and lift up the lids of the storage vessels on show.
Enjoy the Views
Step outside to the upper gun platform and walk along the wall walk to enjoy far-reaching views out to sea.
You can see the 19th-century breakwater, which offers shelter to small craft as well as the fortifications protecting the harbour. Out to sea are two concrete Pheonix Cassions dating from the D-Day preparations of 1944.
The Gun Room
Now open to the sky but once covered with a roof to provide an additional upper gun platform, the Gun Room at Portland Castle still houses five guns casemates.
Guns were fired through ports. Can you see the one with a shutter to close when not in use?
Today you can learn about a mix of guns in the gun room. There’s also the remains of a fireplace used by the garrison.
Meet the Governor
As well as housing military troops throughout the centuries, the castle has been home to a number of well-known Governors including Sir Walter Raleigh.
Find out how this explorer came to reside at the castle in the Captain's Chamber. Look for the 16th-century inscription which was found at Portland Castle. Next door is the latrine where a flushing toilet was installed in later years.
The Captain's Tearoom
Head to the Captain’s Tearoom for a selection of refreshing drinks, light lunches, freshly made sandwiches, soups, children’s lunch bags and cakes. You can even opt for a cream tea with home-made scones, jam and delicious clotted cream.
Vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives are available. You can find allergen and nutritional information here.
Relax in the sheltered courtyard, with its lovely views of the garden, or venture into the castle grounds for a picnic. Thank you! Every coffee or sweet treat you buy helps English Heritage continue its important charity work.