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BINBURY CASTLE

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DESCRIPTION

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Binbury Castle comprises a fine motte which retains the majority of its enclosing ditch. The bailey is no longer traceable except on the NE side where, on the line of the curtain wall at the point where the bailey joined the ditch of the motte, there is a mural tower, the remains of a mediaeval manor-house . This is oblong on plan measuring 4.5m x 3.3m internally, and stands to a height of about 7.5m; its walls of knapped flint with ragstone quoins are 1.9m thick. It is heavily buttressed on its NE face and altered elsewhere by the insertion of brick chimneys and various building additions. The remains of the curtain wall are visible on its SW wall and are traceable as footings for the few metres NW from there to the edge of the ditch. The site lies within the boundary of a disused airfield and although the barns are still in use the farmhouse proper - Binbury Manor - has been demolished.

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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

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[TQ 8115 6023] Motte & Bailey [NR]. (1)

Binbury Castle consists of an oval artficial mound 35 feet high, surrounded by a ditch. A courtyard protected by a stone wall existed on the south-east, portions of the wall remain, also a small tower, but there is no trace of a rampart and ditch to the bailey. On the west side is a small outer rampart or scarp [AO/61/285/6] (2)

There was a Norman Motte & Bailey castle here. To the east of the remaining mound are some remains of a medieval manor house. (3)

Binbury Castle is situated on the northern slope of the N. Downs, its remains are scanty and consist of a large oval mound, the summit of which measures 95 ft. by 160 ft. and it is surrounded by a deep ditch about 60 ft. wide. The mound has been somewhat reduced in height, and its material used to fill up the ditch enclosing the bailey, the site of which is occupied by the Manor House of Binbury and its farm buildings. It is classed as an earth and timber motte and bailey.
(A short history of the Manor of Binbury is given). (4)

Binbury Castle comprises a fine motte which retains the majority of its enclosing ditch. The bailey is no longer traceable except on the NE side where, on the line of the curtain wall at the point where the bailey joined the ditch of the motte, there is a mural tower. (The remains of a mediaeval manor-house - T4). This is oblong on plan measuring 4.5m x 3.3m internally, and stands to a height of about 7.5m; its walls of knapped flint with ragstone quoins are 1.9m thick. It is heavily buttressed on its NE face and altered elsewhere by the insertion of brick chimneys and various building additions. The remains of the curtain wall are visible on its SW wall and are traceable as footings for the few metres NW from there to the edge of the ditch.
The site lies within the boundary of a disused airfield and although the barns are still in use the farmhouse proper - Binbury Manor - has been demolished.
GP AO/61/73/1 Tower from S.W. (5)

Published 25" survey correct. (6)

Binbury Castle. Scheduled No 186. (7)

Additional bibliography. (8-12)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1961

( 2) edited by William Page 1908 The Victoria history of the county of Kent, volume one

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)422

( 3) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

MHLG Hollingbourn RD Kent Nov 1960 85

( 4) General reference

Memorials of Old Kent 1907 180-2 (ed P H Ditchfield)

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 CFW 20-JUL-61

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F2 ASP 12-JUL-63

( 7) General reference

DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 112

( 8) by Derek Renn 1973 Norman castles in Britain

Page(s)110

( 9a) General reference

The Builder 27 1869 350

( 9b) General reference

The Builder 32 1874 625-6 (Clark)

( 9c) General reference

Some Kentish Castles 1907 31-3 (H Sands)

( 9) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

Page(s)235

(10) by John Newman 1983 North east and east Kent

The Buildings of England Page(s)478

(11) Royal Archaeological Institute The Archaeological Journal

Page(s)206

(12) Kent's Defence Heritage

Gazetteer Part 1: KD14

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