Chilham Castle Keep and Donkey Wheel is a Grade I listed building in the Ashford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 October 1952. A C11 Castle.
Chilham Castle Keep and Donkey Wheel
- WRENN ID
- tattered-kitchen-autumn
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Ashford
- Constituency
- Weald of Kent MP: Katie Lam (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 October 1952
- Type
- Castle
- OS grid reference
- TR 066 534
- Coordinates
- 51.24291, 0.95912
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Chilham Castle Keep and Donkey Wheel is a historic castle keep and curtain walls, built in the 11th century and between 1171 and 1174 by Ralph, a master mason, for Henry II. The structure was restored in the early 20th century.
The keep is made of flint with Caen stone dressings and features an octagonal shape, making it one of only two octagonal keeps in the country. It has a square stair turret on the east side, which includes exterior garderobes, and consists of three storeys. There are remnants of a forebuilding on the southwest wall from the 11th century, which served as an unfortified stone hall. Only one original opening remains, a window facing southeast. The flint and buttressed curtain wall, about 15 feet high, is attached to the east side of the keep. Following its restoration in the early 20th century, the keep was used as domestic accommodation and was once rented by artists Charles Ricketts and Charles Shannon.
The Donkey Wheel, dating from the 18th century, is a timber-framed shelter with a plain tile roof, housing a horizontal wheel that is currently in poor condition.
Local climate
Chilham Castle Keep and Donkey Wheel receives an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 74% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 66% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 19 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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