| Summary : Remains of a castle, part ruin and part restored. The oval inner bailey and extant inner curtain wall date to the mid 12th century and were built by Henry de Essex, Constable of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The curtain wall includes 3 round Norman towers which rather unusually project inwards. The most eastern tower was later incorporated into the grand barbican erected as part of the extensive remodelling undertaken by Archbishop William Courtenay in 1382. The Archbishop also added 2 projecting square towers to the southern section of the inner curtain and erected an outer curtain wall which is now ruinous. Following 20th century restoration the barbican remains inhabited. The moated inner bailey also contains 2 halls, again very unusual. The oldest of the 2 dates from the early 14th century, based on the window tracery, and is now quite ruinous. The other, dates from the late 14th century and was built as the Archbishop's audience chamber. Now a largely modern reconstruction although the vaulted undercroft is original. Scheduled. |
More information : [TR 16103590] Saltwood Castle [NR] (Remains of) (1)
Saltwood Castle - circa 1160 to 15th century, ruined in 1580, (see plan AO/LP/62/49 (5)) with 19th and 20th century additions.
The uninhabited parts are scheduled. (2-6)
Saltwood Castle as described above. In good condition. (Divorced survey at 1/1250: Earthworks). (7)
No change. (8)
Saltwood Castle, Castle Road. Largely ruinous. Core of inner curtain wall 12th (or possibly 11th century). Rest 12th, 13th and 14th. Bastions and Curtain Wall about 10 metres South-East of Saltwood Castle Grade I. South-west bastion and part of south curtain wall of outer bailey. Late 14th century. Lower courses possibly earlier. (9)
Romantically secluded in its bower of trees, Saltwood is a castle that readily rouses romantic stories but not one that the student of architectural history can approach with confidence. It was taken into the personal possession of Archbishop Lanfranc after the Conquest, and appears to have remained episcopal property.
The great gatehouse bears the arms of Archbishop Courteney, who began to make the castle his chief residence in 1382. However, for long periods Saltwood was in lay hands, such as at the time of Domesday, and in the mid 12th century, when both owners were supposed to have fortified Saltwood. Nothing can be dated to the 11th century, nor is there any proof that the curtain wall and towers of the inner bailey are of the 12th century. The outer bailey is the work of Archbishop Courteney.
It was not a naturally defensible site, although the ground falls
fairly steeply towards the south. In spite of the moat around the
inner bailey and in spite of Courtenay's proud tower, Saltwood would soon have fallen to a determined attacker. The castle was first mentioned in 1163. It was dismantled in 1175 by Henry II as the Pipe Rolls mention the throwing down of the motte, (12) and the south wall (15) being demolished.
At the NW, through the four-centred arch of the barbican, of circa 1383, one enters the outer bailey, of the early 13th century, roughly a triangle with round angle towers with arrow-loops, and intermediate curtain walling a great deal ruined except at the south corner. On the west side, Courtenay's gatehouse tower, of circa 1385 (17), extends the earlier gatehouse in the inner bailey forward over the moat.
The two-bay vault of the entrance passage was restored in 1885 by F Beeston, whose additions to the back of the gatehouse `made it into a dwelling' the inner ward of circa 1160 (16) has walls which are complete. On the south side of this the moat became a full-scale lake, formed by damming the end of the valley with a bank of earth.
There are two high, square towers on the south wall, three further towers on the west, north and east sides. These three have the peculiarity that they project internally, leaving no mark on the
outside of the walls except a pair of shallow buttresses. Datable features are absent from them all, except the entrance arch of the gatehouse tower. The arch is pointed, a 14th century form, and
there is a portcullis groove.
The domestic ranges lie against the south wall of the inner bailey, and is remarkable in that it includes two halls. The earlier hall
at the east end is of c.1300, and was raised on an undercroft.
Buildings further west, date to Archbiship Courtenay's time including the second hall which lies on a pointed tunnel-vaulted undercroft. The hall itself is largely the work of Philip Tilden in the 1930s. Courtenay's chapel is razed. (10-18)
Saltwood Castle was visited by the Battle and District Historical
Society on 24 June 1959. (19)
TR 16153595. Saltwood Castle listed as having extant gun loops of 1380. (20)
Additional bibliography - not consulted. (21-34)
Remains of a castle, part ruin and part restored. The oval inner bailey and extant inner curtain wall date to the mid 12th century and were built by Henry de Essex, Constable of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The curtain wall includes 3 round Norman towers which rather unusually project inwards. The most eastern tower was later incorporated into the grand barbican erected as part of the extensive remodelling undertaken by Archbishop William Courtenay in 1382. The Archbishop also added 2 projecting square towers to the southern section of the inner curtain and erected an outer curtain wall which is now ruinous. Following 20th century restoration the barbican remains inhabited. The moated inner bailey also contains 2 halls, again very unusual. The oldest of the 2 dates from the early 14th century, based on the window tracery, and is now quite ruinous. The other, dates from the late 14th century and was built as the Archbishop's audience chamber. Now a largely modern reconstruction although the vaulted undercroft is original. Scheduled. (35)
A tower in the outer bailey has 3 gunports inserted in the late C14. (36)
Article on planned repairs and investigations. (37) |