EAW042666 ENGLAND (1952). Chilham Castle, Chilham, 1952

Terraces to South of Chilham Castle, Chilham Grade 2 listed - English Heritage Building ID: 181421 Garden Terraces. Late C17, early C18. Red brick. Flight of 3, approx 7' high, 30 yards in length, joined at either end by flights of brick and stone steps with ball finials and urns to balustrades. Contemporary. 30 yards further south, c C17 terrace wall approx. 12' high. The uppermost terrace wall extends round to east in front of the entrance front of house, enclosing forecourt with statuary on corner piers and large urns to centre either side of flight of 3 steps. Slightly modified by current owners- the top terrace border was reduced in size giving more lawn.

Ha Ha to South of Chilham Castle, Chilham Grade 2 listed English Heritage Building ID: 181419 Ha-ha. C18. Red brick. 5 feet high, runs c. 250 yards west and south of Chilham Castle.

Mediaeval Castle- Today, of all the original stonework, only the octagonal keep with its rectangular extension remain. The keep is a separate dwelling and is also a listed building, Grade 1, English Heritage Building ID: 181416. Castle Keep and curtain walls. C11 and 1171 - 74 by Ralph, master mason, for Henry II; restored early C20. Flint with Caen stone dressings. Octagonal (the earlier of'only 2 in the country). There is evidence of an earlier Anglo Saxon fortification.

Chilham Castle Grade 1 listed building English Heritage Building ID: 181415 Post code CT4 8DB House. 1616 for Sir Dudley Digges, addtions and alterations by David Brandon 1861 - 3, and Sir Herbert Baker, 1922. Red brick and ashlar dressings and plain tile roof. Built as an hexagon open to the south, with C19 and C20 service wing extending to the west. Prior to the 1616 house there was a castle on the site but it was used as a "quarry" by Sir Thomas Cheney who has purchased it in 1542. The remains having been sold, a daughter of a new owner moved onto the site with her husbamd Sir Douglas Digges who built the present house - the remains of the old keep (c 1174) was used in turn as an outhouse, brewery and water-tower. The present terracing, altered in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, leads down to a fishing lake dating from the time of Charles Stewart Hardy in the 1860s and 70s. The walls to the grounds date mostly from the eighteenth century, although the two gatehouses were only added in the early 1920s, again replacing a very different 19th century one. The garden is open for a few days each year but the castle is private property. The house that was built in 1616 on the site of the ancient castle, and bears its name, has since 2002 been the home of Stuart and Tessa Wheeler. information resources: http://www.chilham-castle.co.uk/ and wikipedia Image- Not to be reproduced without permission; Reproduced by permission of English Heritage from http://www.englishheritagearchives.org.uk/SingleResult/Default.aspx? id=1821068&t=Quick&cr=chilham&io=True&l=all View from the East - 1860 - 1895 original source Photograph album by Flaxman Spurrell