Part of one of the south s best-known landmarks was reduced to rubble recently after a sea-facing wall collapsed. As reported in the Daily Echo, no one was hurt as a section of the 16th-century Hurst Castle crumbled to pieces. The Tudor castle on Hurst Spit, Lymington has a rich history and was in military use until as late as 1956. Hurst Castle was built by Henry VIII between 1541 and 1544 and helped to defend against a potential invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire. Relations between the three countries were in tatters after Henry had his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled in 1533. Catherine s nephew Charles V, the Roman Emperor, took the annulment as a personal insult and formed an allegiance with France against Henry.