This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2012) |
Westenhanger Castle is a fortified manor house once owned by royalty, located next to Westenhanger railway station and the grandstand of Folkestone Racecourse in Kent. The castle has endured a period of steady decline to near ruination in recent years, but the current owners have engaged a programme of consolidation, conservation and restoration to the castle and adjoining buildings. It is now being used as a conference and wedding venue.
In its heyday, Westenhanger Castle was a fortified 14th-century quadrangular manor house reflecting the opulence of its owners at that time. However, its history began almost 1,000 years ago, in 1035, when King Canute owned the estate.
The de Criol family, descendants of Bertram de Criol, were initially responsible in 1343 for the building of a permanent structure on the site. The castle stayed in the family until the Wars of the Roses when Sir Thomas de Criol or Kyriell was beheaded the day after the Second Battle of St Albans by order of Queen Margaret of Anjou. [1] Sir Thomas de Criol had no sons, and Westenhanger came to his son-in-law, Sir John Fogge. [2] The manor house at the time contained 126 rooms.
Westenhanger has a rich history with royalty and nobility, being connected with Henry II, Rosamund de Clifford, Edward Poynings, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Customer Smythe and Lord Strangford.
In 1588, under the ownership of Customer Smythe, Queen Elizabeth used the castle as the command centre for Kent's 14,000 troops who were to defend the south coast from the Spanish Armada.
In 1656, the exiled Charles II was persuaded to return to England, and Westenhanger, ideally located close to the English coast. Thousands of armed men were instructed to hide in the surrounding woodlands and when the King entered the house, word would be given for them to rush in and murder the King and his followers. However, the King was forewarned as he was about to leave for England.
Westerhanger descended in the Smythe family until the death in 1869 without issue of Percy Smythe, 8th Viscount Strangford, the last Viscount Strangford. The Westerhanger estate was inherited by his nephew Capt Hugh Baillie, who died without issue in 1876. [3]
Through the centuries, the castle has been reduced in size and suffered serious neglect. Since the mid-1990s, the current owners have been working with English Heritage to consolidate the stonework and prevent further deterioration of the manor house, castle walls and associated buildings. The impressive medieval barns which stand intact outside the curtain wall have recently been reunited with the castle under one ownership and work is ongoing to restore these barns to something near their original state.
It is now being hired out as a conference and wedding venue. [4] Access is via the entrance to the racecourse, off the Westenhanger segment of Stone Street.
Westenhanger Castle is now home to a replica of the Discovery , one of the three ships that entered Chesapeake Bay on May 13, 1607. Sir Thomas Smythe, the founder of the expedition, was the son of Thomas ‘Customer’ Smythe, who was granted Westenhanger (or Ostenhanger, as it was then) as a reward for his service as the Queen's collector of imports. The younger Thomas commissioned the construction of Discovery for the East India Company in 1600 and, along with the Susan Constant and Godspeed , the ship sailed for Virginia on December 19, 1606, under captain John Smith, arriving on May 13 the following year.
As a result of this expedition, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World was subsequently established at Jamestown, Virginia, forming a base for what would later become the United States of America.
On December 19, 2008, the replica of the Discovery was presented to Westenhanger Castle by the Jamestown UK Foundation, a charity set up to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1607.
Sir Bertram de Criol was a senior and trusted Steward and diplomat to King Henry III. He served as Constable and Keeper of Dover Castle, Keeper of the Coast and of the Cinque Ports, Keeper of the receipts, expenses and wardships of the archbishopric of Canterbury, Constable of the Tower of London and Sheriff of Kent.
Nicholas de Crioll, of a family seated in Kent, was Constable of Dover Castle and Keeper of the Coast during the early 1260s. His kinsman Bertram de Criol had distinguished himself in these offices during the preceding 20 years and both were near predecessors of the eminent Warden of the Cinque Ports, Stephen de Pencester.
Discovery or Discoverie was a small 20-ton, 38-foot (12 m) long "fly-boat" of the British East India Company, launched before 1602. It was one of the three ships on the 1606–1607 voyage to the New World for the English Virginia Company of London. The journey resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia.
Edward Maria Wingfield, sometimes hyphenated as Edward-Maria Wingfield was a soldier, Member of Parliament (1593), and English colonist in America. He was the son of Thomas Maria Wingfield, and the grandson of Richard Wingfield.
Viscount Strangford was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1628 for Sir Thomas Smythe. He was a son of John Smith J.P., High Sheriff of Kent 1600–1601, also M.P. for Aylesbury and Hythe, and grandson of Thomas Smythe, of Westenhanger Castle, collector of customs for London, haberdasher, and M.P.
Allington Castle is a stone castle in Allington, Kent, just north of Maidstone, in England. The first castle on the site was an unauthorised fortification, built during "The Anarchy" (1135–1153) and torn down later in the century when royal control was reasserted. It was replaced by a manor house, which was fortified with royal permission in the 13th century. Various alterations and expansions were made by successive owners over the following two centuries. The property was developed into a fortified compound with six towers at irregular intervals along the curtain wall and domestic buildings in the interior, including one of the first long galleries built in England. In 1554 it was seized by the Crown in the course of dispossessing its owner, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger, after the failure of his rebellion against Queen Mary.
Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford was an Anglo-Irish diplomat.
Barbara Sidney, Countess of Leicester was a Welsh heiress, and the first wife of Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester. Her family connections tied her to prominent contemporary figures such as Sir Walter Raleigh.
Ospringe is a village and area of Faversham in the English county of Kent. It is also the name of a civil parish, which since 1935 has not included the village of Ospringe.
Chilham Castle is a Jacobean manor house and keep in the village of Chilham, between Ashford and Canterbury in the county of Kent, England. The keep is of Norman origin and dates to 1174, although it may have been built on an older Anglo-Saxon fortification. The manor house was completed in 1616 for Sir Dudley Digges. Various renovations and improvements to the Manor House and surrounding gardens took place in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Sir John Fineux was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
Thomas Smythe or Smith of London, Ashford and Westenhanger, Kent was the collector of customs duties in London during the Tudor period, and a member of parliament for five English constituencies. His son and namesake, Sir Thomas Smythe, was the first governor of the East India Company, treasurer of the Virginia Company, and an active supporter of the Virginia colony.
Sir Thomas Scott, of Scot's Hall in Kent, was an English Member of Parliament (MP).
Scot's Hall was a country house in Smeeth, between Ashford and Folkestone in southeast England. It was the property of a gentry family, the Scotts. The first known resident was Sir John Scott, who married Caroline Carter.
Sir John Fogge was an English courtier, soldier and supporter of the Woodville family under Edward IV who became an opponent of Richard III.
Thomas Colepeper (1637–1708) was an English colonel.
Sir Thomas Smythe was an English merchant, politician and colonial administrator. He was the first governor of the East India Company and treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609 to 1620 until enveloped by scandal.
Philip Smythe, 2nd Viscount Strangford was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660.
Sir John Smith or Smythe, JP, of Westenhanger, Kent, was an English politician.
Sir Thomas Kyriell was an English soldier of the Hundred Years' War and the opening of the Wars of the Roses. He was executed after the Second Battle of St Albans.