Saltwood Castle

Saltwood Castle

A largely ruinous castle with a core of inner curtain wall dating to the 12th century, possibly the 11th century, with substantial work from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. Late 14th-century work was undertaken by Archbishop Courtenay. The gatehouse extension of 1385 is attributed to Henry Yevele. The castle underwent restoration and additions in the 1880s by F. Beeston, and further work in the 1930s by Philip Tilden. The structure is built of ragstone.

The castle comprises a roughly triangular outer bailey surrounded by a curtain wall with circular bastions and a north-west barbican. A roughly oval inner bailey projects into the south-west corner of the triangle, incorporating rectangular bastions and garderobe towers, an east gate-tower, and ruins of principal domestic buildings.

The domestic buildings within the inner bailey consist of walls of a first-floor hall which used the south wall of the bailey as its long south side; the outline of a further range including a porch to the west, also parallel to this wall; to the west of this range, abutting the bailey wall at right-angles, another first-floor hall which was rebuilt by Tilden; and the bases of walls of a chapel adjoining the north-west corner of the second hall at right-angles, almost abutting the west curtain wall and, with the second hall, enclosing a small garden in the south-west corner of the bailey. Vestigial evidence of other inner bailey buildings abut the north curtain wall.

The inner bailey curtain walls are complete. There are two rectangular garderobe towers projecting outwards to north and west. Two larger rectangular towers project into the inner bailey, one close to each garderobe tower, with pilaster buttresses to the outside of the curtain wall. Each has a pointed-arched doorway at its base. Two rectangular towers project beyond the curtain wall to the south, both with possibly inserted lancets. The tower towards the west end lies to the south of the second first-floor hall, possibly serving as, or adapted to, a solar. It incorporates stairs between the hall, solar and rampart walks, and contains a small moulded pointed-arched window between the stairs and hall, possibly of the late 14th century. The tower towards the east end has a staircase leading to the rampart walk and also to landings with two pointed-arched doorways and windows to each of the first and second floors of the former range to the west of the first east hall. A garderobe occupies the wall thickness. An apparent gateway, now blocked, lies to the east of the centre of this tower, with secondary, squinted access from the west end of the hall.

The east hall dates to the late 13th or early 14th century. It has a battered plinth. Three ground-floor windows to the north have almost rounded heads and are morticed for bars. Three pointed-arched first-floor windows face north, three face south, and one faces east, all with restored cusped intersecting tracery and hoodmoulds with label-stops. Internal hoodmoulds have roll-and-fillet moulding linked to blank arcading between the windows. A similarly-moulded continuous string links the window cills. Corbels support the hall floor. A pointed-arched doorway opens to the west end of the north wall.

The west hall has a first floor largely of early 14th-century style by Tilden, formerly late 14th century, built over a possibly 13th-century undercroft. A chamfered stone plinth continues with that of the late 14th-century chapel ruins to the west. A moulded stone string lies below the former parapet or battlements. A two-storey rectangular porch at the north end of the east wall provides access to the undercroft and, via stone steps, to the hall. A four-centred arched doorway with broach stops opens to the hall from the south end of the west wall, reached by an external flight of stone steps from the garden. A plain-chamfered pointed-arched north doorway with broach stops gives access to the undercroft.

The undercroft is reached by descending eight steps. It comprises eight narrow bays spanned by a pointed-arched tunnel vault with plain-chamfered ribs dying into the walls.

The late 14th-century chapel retains almost the full height of its east end of the south wall. It contains an ogee, moulded trefoil-headed piscina to the first floor, with a pointed-arched doorway to the west of it leading to a first-floor passage corbelled out in the re-entrant angle between the chapel and hall. A fragment of moulded stone cornice survives in the ground-floor room of the chapel.

The east gatehouse comprises three sections. The west section probably dates to the late 13th or early 14th century, with 19th-century additions to east and west. It is rectangular, four low storeys, and battlemented, with one rectangular west window to each storey; a window replaces a former west gateway. The 19th-century sections are two low storeys, battlemented, with stone mullioned and transomed windows. The east section dates to the late 14th century and is built out over the former moat. It consists of close-set circular twin towers of two tall stages rising above an earlier tower. Each has a chamfered stone plinth, a chamfered string between the stages, and a moulded string beneath the battlements. Deep machicolations feature in the battlemented central section. Restored trefoil-headed lancets light each tower. Two trefoil-headed lancets appear under the machicolations and one 15th-century six-light stone mullioned and transomed window with a hoodmould illuminates each of the two upper floors. A pointed-arched plain-chamfered gateway is set in a shallow rectangular recess between the towers, accessed by eight steps. Shields bearing the arms of Archbishop Courtenay and Canterbury are positioned above the recess. Rectangular garderobe towers to the rear (west) of the twin towers discharge into the former moat and connect to the earlier west section of the gatehouse.

The interior of the gatehouse, only partly inspected, comprises a two-bay vault in the west section with broad chamfered ribs dying into the walls, and portcullis grooves. The east section has a quadripartite vault with moulded ribs springing from wall shafts with moulded capitals and bases. Hexagonal guard-rooms remain, as do garderobe shutes.

The outer bailey features a virtually continuous late 14th-century curtain wall with three circular bastions. A fourth bastion to the south-west and part of the south curtain wall were formerly linked to the rest and to the inner bailey wall but are now separate. A rectangular barbican defends the north-west side of the bailey. Most of its upper storey is missing. The ground floor is spanned by three arches; those towards the centre and west have portcullis grooves. The outer faces show chamfered four-centred arches with broach stops.

The castle was formerly moated and is probably ruined by an earthquake in 1580. It was owned alternately by Christchurch, Canterbury and by lay owners. The murder of Thomas Becket is said to have been planned here in 1170. The uninhabited parts are a scheduled ancient monument.