Chilham Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Chileham

In the civil parish of Chilham. In the historic county of Kent (Modern Authority of Kent, 1974 county of Kent).

Octagonal castle keep constructed in 1160 with a C14 curtain wall. C11 and 1171 - 74 by Ralph, master mason, for Henry II; restored early C20. Flint with Caen stone dressings. Octagonal (the earlier of'only 2 in the country) with square stair turret to east, with garderobes to exterior, 3 storeys. Remnants of forebuilding on south west wall of C11, an unfortified stone hall. Only one original opening survives, a window facing south east. Flint and buttressed curtain wall about 15ft high, attached to the east side of the Keep. Originally with a bailey enclosing circa 8 acres. Excavations located the buried remains of a Norman C11 hall below the stone annexe to the keep, which contains a blocked archway belonging to the earlier hall building. The country house, also of the same name is to the east of the keep. Keep only remains of castle and even earthworks are lost, though Jacobean house presumably in bailey.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 181416)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TR06625346

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 463362
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is TR 05 SE 3 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.ecastles.co.uk/chilham.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern) p24-5
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p113
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p228-9
    Guy, John, 1980, Kent Castles (Meresborough Books)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p207-8
    Smithers, David Waldron, 1980, Castles in Kent (Chatham)
    Newman, John, 1976, The buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald (Harmondsworth) p273-5
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p613
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p104
    Braun, Hugh, 1936, The English castle (Batsford) p44-8
    C.H(ardy), 1916, Chilham Castle
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Chalkley Gould and Downham, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Kent Vol1 p412
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p8 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/8/mode/1up
    King, Edward, 1799-1805, Munimenta antiqua or Observations on antient castles (W.Bulmer and Co) Vol3 p154-66
    Hasted, Edward, 1798 (2edn), A History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent Vol7 p263-292 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63418
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol3 p20-4
• Journal Articles
  • Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Clapham, A.W., 1929, The Archaeological Journal Vol86 p302-6
    Clapham, A.W., 1928, 'An Early Hall at Chilham Castle' Antiquaries Journal Vol8 p350-53
    Hussey, 1924, Country Life Vol55 p1000-06
    1794, Gentleman's Magazine pt2 p909-10 [plan not in Gomme] http://books.google.com/books?vid=uom39015018405582
• Guidebooks
  • 1987, Chilham Castle (English Life Publications; Derby)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p265
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/kenteng.html#kent20]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p55 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl04lelauoft