Thurnham Castle
This was our second stop during that thundery Sunday in July and while we love a hidden gem, and tiny remnants, this one turned out to be a danger to life!
We are of course being slightly dramatic. But this site required some very steep hill walking and as it had been raining all morning it was very muddy and while we managed to get up the hills without an issue, it was getting down which was the problem, there was an awful lot of slipping and sliding considering we were wearing decent enough shoes. Yogi on the other hand had no trouble getting up or down as clearly he was some sort of mountain goat in a previous life. The little show off even stopped to get on his hind legs and wait for us at the steepest bit. Cheeky git!
Thurnham Castle, also known as Godard's Castle, barely stands today. In fact all that is left is a section of the bailey wall. This was originally a motte and bailey castle, much like that of Launceston and Totnes from our previous visits. The bailey would have enclosed at least an acre and not much else is known about it other than it was constructed by Robert of Thurnham in the 12th century. Prior to Thurnham taking over the site, it belonged to the de Say family, but is now part of a country park owned by Kent County Council. A charter from 1215 refers to the land within the castle indicating that this flint property was already in a ruinous state back then.
Robert of Thurnham was a loyal subject to Richard the Lionheart as they crusaded alongside each other. He was given command of the English fleet and made governor of Cyrpus, but some sources indicate that he never returned from the crusades which is what led the castle to ruin.
Prior to the castle, the sight was a Saxon castle, hence Godard Castle named after the Saxon Godardis who founded the site. We cant find any other information on Godardis, but the fact he built a castle he must have been a vaguely important Saxon man, perhaps even a leader.
Earlier still the site was a Roman watchtower which meant there was a Roman fort here too. Of course when the Romans fled and the Saxons took over they adapted this like with Richborough and it would have become a Saxon settlement. Sadly no evidence to further the site's history has been found, likely because no one has yet bothered to excavate or look into it.
Aside from this, the castle is literally nothing more than a 10ft flint wall. From the outside looking in you're deceived into thinking there is more, or perhaps a larger footprint of what was, something to explore to tantalise the historic tastebuds. But no, there is a wall and then up a hill there is an information post saying where the keep was and then nothing else but mud, trees, and rolling greenery that Detling brings. We were quite disappointed, but this is what happens when you choose not to research sites before you visit them. We got our steps in anyway and then jogged back to the car as the rain came down again and we needed somewhere else to explore as the bug was in us that day.
Dont get us wrong, if you like long hikes across country parks to take in the scenery and do a lot of walking then this is a great place. But we were looking for something specific, history, adventure, and some sort of easy win.
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