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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Landguard like this:
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.
Landguard is now part of EAST SUFFOLK District. Click here for graphs and data of how EAST SUFFOLK has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Landguard itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Landguard, in East Suffolk and Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24980
Date accessed: 08th April 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Landguard".
