Kent and Upnor Castle

Kent 

In the summer of 2017, we decided to travel to somewhere a bit closer to home – Maidstone, Kent. My wife and I travelled over to my friend Alex’s house, ready for our week-long trip to Kent to explore somewhere close but new to us. The weather was stunning; small, white clouds filled the almost luminous blue skies as the sun’s powerful rays burst through the atmosphere. It was a very warm day with little wind. The leaves on the trees were fluttering ever so slightly in the wind, with their darkened green leaves somehow capturing the light of the sun as they twisted and turned, creating an almost mesmerising pattern of light and dark throughout the trees.

1. The weather when we left Hainault. It looked like a Windows desktop background

We stayed in a quieter area with a wide variety of great restaurants close by, serving a huge variety of cuisine. One of our culinary highlights was a dine-in Indian restaurant which served authentic cuisine (although the chefs made the food a lot less spicy for our undeveloped taste buds). There were a variety of locally owned shops and nationwide stores for grocery shopping, as well as a variety of new and historic pubs and bars to have a quiet drink in or catch a football game.

 

However, one of our main purposes for visiting Kent was to become better acquainted with the variety of historic and world-renowned castles in the area. In this and following blog posts we will be looking at some of the wonderful castles that we visited in Kent, including Leeds Castle, Rochester Castle and Upnor Castle.

 

Upnor Castle

We parked in the forest at Upnor Castle Car Park and exited the car. The gravel car park was quite small and felt very rural. As we made our way down the road towards the castle, we were struck by the age and isolation of the homes and the castle. We knew that castles were built as a fortress and served as a form of protection for the local homes, and it very much felt this way as we were meandering our way towards the castle.

2. The aptly named High Street.

We entered the grounds and made our way to the small building located at the entrance with a sign that sold tickets. The ticket office was a small rectangular room, quite bare, but full of a somewhat mysterious and intriguing atmosphere, which we felt drawn to and made us feel even more intrigued about what the rest of the castle held in store.

 

We meandered slowly up the path, trying to take in the sights that lay before us. To some, it would be an uninteresting mix of muddy grounds, poor weather and ancient buildings which were being maintained, but to us, it was an adventure. The first building, called the Gatehouse, had a small, empty room with virtually no furnishings. The walls were slowly peeling back to their original foundations in many places and the wooden floors were exceptionally old and bore the visible marks of a rich history, as evidenced by the numerous scuff marks and unevenness that could only have been caused by the shoes of visitors throughout the many years of the castle’s existence. 

3. The ancient walls where scorch marks from a 1653 fire can be seen.

The room contained a few signs sharing information about the history of some of the people who had lived there, which we read with trepid fascination. The room’s decaying and bare interior led to us feeling as though the room had been frozen in time. It was as if we were not only reading about these long-gone people, but had almost transcended time and were experiencing aspects of their lives. I know that this is a bit of a stretch, but the atmosphere of the buildings really helps visitors to understand the mindset of the long-gone occupants and makes them feel extremely relatable. The stone walls, wooden staircases and distinct lack of other visitors gave us an opportunity to do some independent exploration. We discovered many rooms displaying a rich history of the castle and surrounding town.

4. The view from the Gatehouse.

The second floor of the Gatehouse was just as rich in history. Large windows led to a spectacular view of the grounds and the river Medway, upon which the castle is built. This room was just as empty as the one on the lower floor, but with a sign stating that a fire in 1653 left scorch marks on some of the red bricks, which could still be seen to this day, meaning that some of those bricks contained history that was as real to us as it was to the inhabitants who lived there 367 years ago. There were a few side rooms which contained nothing but a small sign and felt incredibly isolated. It was so isolated and quiet in one of the small rooms that we didn’t even realise that a few other visitors had entered and had climbed up to the second floor.

5. They climbed up these stairs to where we were and we still didn't hear them. 

Brief History

Upnor castle was constructed on the river Medway between 1559 and 1567, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Medway is a major tributary to the river Thames and was therefore an ideal strategic location to help defend against foreign invasion. The castle was chosen as an excellent location to store many of the Royal Navy’s ships for a number of reasons, including its access to the Thames, the river’s lack of strong currents, its absence of large rocks and the sprawling hills that surround the area.

 

The looming threat of war with Catholic Spain and France meant that Queen Elizabeth needed to develop a variety of locations along the Medway for defences. Tensions were very high during this period ‘so maintaining a strong navy and protection of her fleet bases was a priority.’ (Upnor Castle Guidebook, p. 19) The tensions with Spain grew and the Queen was worried that a naval invasion was imminent, so chains were slung into the waters by Upnor as a preventative measure in 1585. However, the need to develop moorings for the ever-growing number of naval ships meant that the chains had to be moved further downriver and beyond the protection of the castle. A war with Spain broke out in 1585, although wasn’t publicly declared until 1587, following the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The war lasted until 1604 and England had begun making many structural and personnel developments at Upnor castle throughout this period, including increasing the artillery, general firepower and number of trained soldiers located at the castle, due to the fear that understaffing the castle would see it becoming overtaken and becoming an enemy stronghold.

 

Following the war, England’s financial resources, under the rule of King James I in 1603, were sparse and many of these strategic locations quickly fell into disrepair and became structurally weak and severely damaged. A survey done in 1623 noted the ‘drawbridge and its mechanism were broken, a number of gun platforms needed to be replaced and much of the courtyard wall had collapsed.’ (Upnor Castle Guidebook page 23)

 

In 1667, the year following the terrible Great Fire of London, which burnt tens of thousands of homes but only caused a verified 6 deaths, the Dutch Army invaded the river Medway, breaking an unofficial truce that had been in place since the end of 1666. Samuel Pepys, famous for his diary entries around the Great Fire of London, actually wrote about the Dutch invasion in his diary, stating, ‘…for the newes is true, that the Dutch have broke the chaine and burned our ships…’.

Back to the Castle

Having left the Gatehouse and made our way through the courtyard, we were struck by the sight of cannons facing out to the river and a palisade which had been built into the river as a defence against foot troops. The courtyard had a few remnants of walls and other small buildings scattered throughout the grass. The rain had picked up again and we decided to just head straight into the Main Building, which had an exhibit with mannequins, showing what people did and what it would have looked like all those hundreds of years ago. Alex and I were reading about the invasions, developments of the castle’s defences and subsequent disrepair while we could hear people banging overhead on the wooden floors. We felt a bit annoyed as the people upstairs seemed to be being quite disrespectful. However, we remembered that the only other people who had been in there with us, a woman and her son, had just left. Filled with curiosity, we headed up the stairs to see the exhibits and try to catch a glimpse of whoever was up there. As we arrived upstairs, we couldn’t see anyone at all. To be fair, we were a bit unsure but just assumed that it was probably a mix of the wind and us not being 100% sure about when the mother and her son had left.

6. These mannequins must love stacking barrels. This probably explains why it was so loud!

The castle underwent many changes throughout its history, especially following its initial development after 1567. During the many renovations and military revisions, side buildings, a palisade were added for a mix of defensive, military and celebratory purposes. The gatehouse, North and South towers and Main Building retain many of their original features but also have had a number of restorations done which can be seen as well. During some of these renovations, some old artwork and other items were uncovered and are now on display within the castle. 

This is what Alex had to say about the castle and the silence of the rooms, ‘The atmosphere was wonderful. You entered the room and you felt like you had travelled back in time, like you were there with those inhabitants. You sort of forget where you are, and you are suddenly there with them.’

7. So, you're telling me that it is meant to be flooded?

Having seen everything there was to see, from the small side towers to the views in the river, we decided to head back to the car and back the flat. A hot shower, a nice takeaway and a darkening sky with rain and thunder added a great end to what had been a great day.

By Kyle P