Calshot Spit

Its purpose, when it was built in 1539, was to protect access to the important harbour at Southampton from seaborne attack, by France or Spain from the English Channel via the Solent.

[8] The site is now the location of Calshot Lifeboat Station operated by the RNLI, yachts and the National Coastwatch Institution.

The hangars are home to Calshot Activities Centre and house indoor climbing walls, artificial ski slopes and a velodrome.

[10] This replaced a Trinity House lightvessel (LV 78) that was anchored off the spit and which was, for a while, a static attraction at the Ocean Village marina in Southampton.

In November 2010 it was moved a short distance to the Trafalgar dock where, after renovation, it was to be displayed at the Aeronautica attraction, due to open in 2015.

[7] The large scale construction of car parks, beach-huts and the importation of topsoil has reduced the range of plants present.