Upnor Castle
The same day as we visited the Nao Victoria we decided to take advantage of our time in Chatham without the dog and visit nearby Upnor Castle.
Now I'm sure there is a few reasons why Upnor Castle is not dog friendly, but for the most part we assume this is because of the resident cat, Meow Meow, which Lauren has since dubbed Sir due to him being the sole resident of the castle. We were honoured to meet him and have a little cuddle and it made our day for sure.
Anyway, Upnor castle was an awful lot bigger than we thought and it was actually while on the Marina that we first spotted it from the other side. It inspired our decision to cross the water and go for a visit and we are so glad we did, even if Ren didn't get her wooden keyring as while supported by English Heritage it is actually a council run property.
We were surprised to learn that Upnor Castle was constructed on the orders of the longest reining Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I. The biggest clue to this was the murals of her leading up to the castle showing her involvement. She'd foreseen conflict when tensions grew between Britain and Spain and other European countries. It was her father, the Big Bully King, who had begun using the area to dock ships in need of repair or larger naval ships due to the River Medway being a direct and careful route into the Thames. By the time Elizabeth came to power the majority of the royal fleet used this section and so it was in her best interest to defend it.
While the Thames had its defences, Medway only had Rochester Castle and Queensborough Castle, both of whom would defend from landward attacks and not those on the water. Now this was centuries before Fort Amherst and so the docks had no defence at all, Upnor was the way forward to defend both the royal fleet and the gateway to London.
The main structure of the castle was completed by 1564, but it was different to how it looks now. The towers at either end of the water frontage were of different design before they were replaced later on and the gatehouse and moat were also added later. It took another three years for the castle to be completed due to financial issues as funding needed to be sourced elsewhere and derelict buildings nearby such as those in Rochester Castle and Aylesford were pulled down in order to provide stone for the structure.
It was during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604, which was never official due to never being declared, that the chain was laid that stretches the length of the river to Upnor in order to stop ships. Other new fortifications were built to strengthen the defence during this time as well, but the castle was poorly manned until it was highlighted by the 1st Earl of Nottingham and 80 men were brought in to garrison the castle.
The Spanish had inspired so much fear within our blue bloods that further improvements were made to Upnor so that no further landings could take place. However, by 1603 the castle and its defences were in a state of disrepair. The gun platforms needed repairing, as did the drawbridge as well as its raising mechanism, and the courtyard wall had fallen resulting in a newer curtain wall being built in order to protect the landward side of the property.
Just under 40 years later, the castle was surrendered without conflict to the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. It briefly returned to Royalist hands when an uprising caused a usurp of Kent castles being taken back, but ultimately it was lost back to the hands of the Parliamentarians when they were defeated in the Battle of Maidstone. It was around this time that commander-in-chief Sir Thomas Fairfax ordered the repairs of the castle to strengthen it and also increased the height. The castle became suitable for troop accommodation and the castle had fulfilled its intended military use.
1667 brought action for the castle, having it forefront in the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Raid on the Medway brought the Dutch to Chatham when they took Sheerness and then through Gravesend, then travelled the Thames to take Upnor. They sailed past the chain meant to cut off the river, towed away the HMS Royal Charles and HMS Unity all the while setting fire to the other ships docked in the river. The Dutch were successfully stopped the second time they sailed past Upnor for Chatham as guns were taken from the town to strengthen Upnor, but it was still seen as the worst naval defeat England had suffered.
While the raid killed Upnor's purpose of being a fortress, it did remedy the disrepair the castle had been allowed to fall into with measures again being taken to strengthen the castle in order to have it seen as a fort and place of strength. A new career for the site was formed when it became storage for munitions for the naval warships and works were undertaken in order to adapt the castle to its new role. By 1691 the castle had redeemed itself by becoming England's best magazine, holding pole position even over the Tower of London for the sheer fire power it contained.
In 1827 the castle retired from the munitions storage business and instead became an Ordinance Lab with six hulks serving as floating magazines. Storage issues ensued before the practise ceased .
Another war hit and this time it was WWI, so the castle was repurposed as a training ground for firearms and explosives, becoming a Royal Naval Armaments Depot. From this point onwards it became a museum while still in military ownership, again returning to duty in WWII as part of the Magazine Establishment, but the castle was damaged by two enemy bombs in 1941. However, the falling bombs nearby did the castle a favour as the plaster that was dislodged unearthed further history in the form of graffiti and ship drawing from 1700.
When the war finished, the castle returned to its peaceful retirement as a museum and stands now as a Departmental Museum, owned by the crown, with a deep and weathered history leading back to the Tudors and marred by war along its long lifetime.
Aside from Sir Meow Meow, the castle is long empty and needing some serious TLC. When we visited several areas were shut due to needing desperate repair and there were a lot of fenced off areas due to falling posts and fallen walls. It is a shame that upkeep is scarce for such a beautiful and important castle, especially when aspects of the site had been left to fall apart beforehand too. If general upkeep continued the castle would actually be fully intact and usable as this isnt ruinous at all. But hopefully the funding is provided. Sadly it seems as though this isn't a massively popular spot or well known so hopefully that changes! There are also some delightful pubs on the same road which are very old and niche and if we weren't on a budget we'd have stopped for a pub lunch. We will be back for sure, maybe for a cheeky autumn visit especially as Lauren wants to go back for Sir Meow Meow.
It is also super interactive and interesting. There is a TV in the main castle store room with a full recreational film from the Dutch raid, not to mention the most nightmarish wax figures dotted around to throw you back into the past. We got to try on period clothing, climb towers, walk the grounds, get up and personal with the wax men of bygone eras, and get creeped out by the abandoned lower rooms of the outer castle.
This was an excellent adventure and actually one of our favourites, not just because of the cat, but because we wandered around for hours when we thought it was just going to be a quick 45 minute trip. There was so much to see including the working clock in the clocktower where the walls tick in time. It was a magical if not slightly creepy experience. Also the authentic smells of the history here, as not a lot has changed over the years. The Tudor wallpaper, the original wooden stairs. It was an educational experience.
We'd go back in a heartbeat as we enjoyed the date. It was super hot when we went too and there isnt any aircon or ventilation in these buildings so it would be nice to visit in a cooler climate. In terms of the otherworldly presences, these are known here as ghost truths instead of ghost stories. Mostly experienced within the shop, leaflets and merch move on its own, but more chilling is the little Georgian boy who stands on the barracks intent on giving a message but disappearing into thin air before he can do so. Despite the battle worn naval castle having seen some action, there isn't a bloody remnant remaining here, just peaceful spirits holding the history of the place firmly in the past.
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