| KENT |
| Allington Castle |
Off A20, 2.5 miles north
of Maidstone |
The 13th century moated
castle on the banks of the River Medway still keeps a sense of
tranquillity. Its squat stone walls are crenellated and pierced with arrow
slits, and a massive gatehouse leads to the central courtyard. The
building contains fine furniture and works of art. |
| Aylesford Priory |
Off A20, 3 miles north-west of Maidstone |
The Carmelites founded a priory here in
1242. Dissolved at the Reformation in 1538, it fell into decay, but was
reoccupied by the Carmelites in 1949. They have restored the medieval
buildings including the 13th century Pilgrims' Hall, and built a large
open-air shrine. |
| Canterbury Cathedral |
Centre of Canterbury |
The magnificent brass
effigy of the Black Prince - Edward, Prince of Wales - lies in the
cathedral's Trinity Chapel. The prince, who died in 1376, was and admirer
of Thomas Becket, who was brutally murdered in the cathedral in 1170.
Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry II, was cut
down be four of the king's knights after defying the king's efforts to
control the power of the Church. The scene of Becket's murder in the
north-west transept is marked by a sculpture. |
| Canterbury Heritage Museum |
Stour Street, Canterbury |
The museum is set in the 14th century Poor
Priests' Hospital, built to house retired clergy. The models and displays
tell the city's story from the Romans to the blitz, when one-third of the
city was destroyed by German bombs. Exhibits include Roman and Viking
finds, Anglo-Saxon gold and Stephenson's locomotive Invicta. |
| Canterbury Roman Museum |
Butchery Lane, Canterbury |
In Roman times, Canterbury
was the city of Durovernum Cantiacorum, and this museum is build around
the remains of a Roman house with fine mosaics. The museum has some
fascinating reconstructions and some amazing objects rescued by
excavation, including 2000 year old swords and a silver spoon hoard. |
| Chartwell |
Off B2026, 2 miles south of Westerham |
Chartwell was Sir Winston Churchill's
country home from 1924 until his death in 1965. Built on the south-facing
slope with magnificent views across the Kentish Weald, it is was
remodelled for Sir Winston by Philip Tilden. It has the feeling of a
family home, with everyday objects lying around. Upstairs some of the
bedrooms have been converted to display his various uniforms and his
famous wartime 'siren suit', photographs and gifts from foreign heads of
state. |
| Chiddingstone Castle |
Off B2027, 3 miles east of
Edenbridge |
This battlemented,
mock-baronial country house now stands aloof from the village of
Chiddingstone, though it once formed part of it. The first house on the
site was built by the Streatfeild family in Tudor times. In the 1680s this
was pulled down and a Charles II mansion was built in its place. Around
1800, Henry Streatfeild encased this in a Gothic Revival exterior. From
1955 to 1977 it was owned by Denys Eyre who filled it with superb Japanese
art and relics of the Stuarts and Jacobites. |
| Chilham Castle Gardens |
OnA252, 6 miles south-west of Canterbury |
Below the Jacobean gables and tall chimneys
of Chilham Castle, terraced lawns and flower-filled borders fall away
towards the valley of Stour. On summer weekends the Middle Ages live again
in mock tournaments by the Jousting Association of Great Britain, which
has its home at the castle. |
| Deal Castle |
On the seafront (A258),
south of town centre |
This small castle is a
reminder of an invasion scare four and a half centuries ago. Henry VIII
built a chain of coastal castles, of which Deal is the finest and
best-preserved. The castle is shaped like a six-petalled Tudor rose, with
no right angles - a better shape for deflecting cannonballs. It was
garrisoned by a Captain and about 20 soldiers or gunners. |
| Dover Castle |
Castle Hill Road, Dover |
Dover Castles massive keep, outer curtain
wall and inner bailey were built mainly by Henry II and in the 1180s, as
the key to England's gateway. Inside, the keep consists of two enormous
storeys, with a basement below. On its walls hand pikes, muskets and other
relics of bygone warfare, while down below is a scale model of the battle
of Waterloo. An exhibition tells the story of the Queen's Regiment from
the Crimean War, through both World Wars, to present day operations. |
| Dymchurch Martello
Tower |
On seafront at Dymchurch |
During the Napoleonic
invasion scare of the early 1800s, more than 100 of these little
fortresses were built to guard England's south and east coasts. The tower
at Dymchurch has been restored as a museum showing the preparations to
repel an invasion that never happened. |
| Hever Castle |
Off B2026, 3 miles south-east of Edenbridge |
Hever is like a perfect child's drawing of a
castle, approached by a drawbridge across a neatly squared-off moat, then
under a portcullis into an entrance courtyard. It was built and fortified
by the De Hever family about 1300. After centuries of decay the castle
interior was refurbished and filled with fine furniture and works of art.
A 'Tudor Village' was also added together with wonderful landscaped
gardens and statues. |
| Ightham Mote |
Off A227, 6 miles north of
Tonbridge |
This moated manor house is
tucked away in a hollow on a hillside. Though it does indeed have a moat,
the house's name probably derives from the Saxon moot, or 'place of
assembly'. Built in a mixture of architectural styles, Ightham has
weathered over the centuries to form a harmonious blend of half-timbered,
mellow brick and stone. At its heart is a courtyard, dominated by windows
of the Great Hall. |
| Kent Battle of Britain Museum |
On A260, 2.5 miles north of Folkstone |
From August to October 1940, Hawkinge was
the front line of defence in the Battle of Britain. After falling
derelict, Hawkinge has taken on a new lease of life with the opening of an
RAF museum in its disused control tower. The centrepiece of the collection
is Britain's largest assembly of recovered remains of aircraft, both
British and German, that took part in the epic struggle. |
| Knole |
On A225, in Sevenoaks |
Knole is a fascinating
house and is linked to the passage of time by having 365 rooms, 7
courtyards, 52 staircases and 12 entrances. Mainly built in the mid 15th
century by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a country palace
for himself. Henry VIII acquired it from Archbishop Cranmer in 1538 simply
by saying he liked it. The furniture in the house includes the first of
the famous Knole drop-end setees, while the chairs in the Brown Room still
have their 17th century upholstery. |
| Leeds Castle |
On B2163, 4.5 miles south-east of Maidstone |
For more than 300 years Leeds Castle was the
favourite country retreat of the medieval queens of England. Standing on
two islands, Leeds was the first fortified castle by a Saxon called Leed,
who build a wooden castle on the site. In 1119 a Norman knight rebuilt it
in stone, and traces of that castle survive in the form of a vaulted
cellar. Edward I greatly enlarged the defences and Henry VIII changed the
castle into a palace. Leeds castle is as magnificent inside as it is
externally with its great rooms and collection of treasures. |
| Lullingstone Castle |
On A225, 5 miles north of
Sevenoaks |
A Tudor gatehouse leads to
the spacious mansion of Lullingstone Castle. Though it looks like a Queen
Anne country seat, the facade hides a Tudor house built about 1500.
Internally the house was largely remodelled in the early 18th century,
when a new staircase was built for a visit by Queen Ann. |
| Penshurst Place |
On B2176, 4.5 miles north-west of Royal
Tunbridge Wells |
This palatial country house was the
birthplace of Sir Philip Sidney, the Elizabethan poet and courtier.
Approached across a formal garden and through the sturdy medieval Garden
Tower, the building lies spread out like a study in architectural history.
The centrepiece is the magnificent Great Hall, built about 1340, which hardly
altered since it was built. Other rooms on view to the public include the
State Dining Room, Elizabethan Long Gallery and Tapestry Room. |
| Rochester Cathedral |
In the centre of Rochester |
Cathedral and Castle stand
side by side as a reminder that in the Middle Ages Church and State
wielded equal power. The cathedral was begun in 1080, and much of the
sturdy round-arched Norman work survives. In later centuries the cathedral
was altered and added to, the rounded Norman arches giving way to the
Gothic Style in two bays. |
| Rochester Castle |
In the centre of Rochester |
Bishop Gundulf, William the Conqueror's
bishop-architect was responsible for the outer walls of Rochester Castle,
but the mighty turreted keep was built in the 1120s by William de Corbeuil,
Archbishop of Canterbury. Much of the magnificent internal Norman arcading
still survives, and from the battlements there are wide views over the
city and the Medway. |
| Roman Painted House |
New Street, Dover |
Redevelopment in Dover's
New Street in the 1970s uncovered the remains of a remarkable Roman
building. Known as the Painted House - after the frescoes that covered its
walls - it stood just outside the main gate of the headquarters of the
Roman fleet, and was probably built for a high ranking officer. The floors
and walls of the main rooms are today displayed in a modern building. |
| Royal Museum and Art Gallery |
High Street, Canterbury |
Decorative arts of Europe; Roman and
Anglo-Saxon archaeology of East Kent; paintings relating to the area,
including those by Thomas Sidney Cooper, Thomas Gainsborough, Henry Moore
and John Ward. |
| St Augustine's Abbey |
Centre of Canterbury |
From the abbey he founded in 598, the ruins
of which can still be seen, St Augustine and his followers spread the
Gospel. Augustine can to Britain from Rome in 597, and his first convert
to Christianity was King Ethelbert of Kent. The Norman abbey church and
the abbey were destroyed at the Dissolution in 1538. |
| Scotney Castle |
Off A21, 9 miles south east Royal Tunbridge
Wells |
The old Tudor manor house - protected by a
moat and the old castle tower - was abandoned in the 1830s when Edward
Hussey built a large stone mansion up the hill from the castle. Hussey
landscaped the ruins and buried the ancient castle in roses. |
| Walmer Castle |
On A258, 2 miles south of
Deal |
Walmer was built by Henry
VIII at a time of threatened invasion, and is now the official residence
of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. When it was built in the 1530s it
stood right beside the sea, but the shingle has built up and it is set
well back. In the early 18th century windows and elegant panelling was
added to make it a comfortable Georgian House. |
| The Westgate |
St Peter's Place,
Canterbury |
The imposing Westgate was
built in 1380 by Archbishop Sudbury, at the time of the first stirrings of
unrest that led to the Peasants' Revolt a year later. Until 1829 it was
used as the city jail. Now a museum, its walls are hung with leg-irons and
other grisly relics. The museum houses a collection of arms from medieval
times to world War II. There is a fine view of the city from the roof. |
