View from Overbeck's looking towards South Sands and North Sands. You can see in the foreground the remains of Fort Charles, originally built at the order of Henry VIII to protect the estuary from French and Spainish raiders. It saw action during the English Civil War when, in 1644, it held out for the Royalist cause against Parliamentary forces for 5 months. Further along the river stands a second fort, more a 'sham' fort really; it was built during the Napoleonic wars to give any invader the impression the entrance was strongly defended.