Godards Castle, Thurnham

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Goddards; Thornham; Godworde; Turnham

In the civil parish of Thurnham.
In the historic county of Kent (Modern Authority of Kent, 1974 county of Kent).

Thurnham Castle crowns the point of a steep spur of the North Downs, which commands the Maidstone-Sittingbourne road and the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury. It is a motte and bailey castle with gatehouse and curtain walls in flint and traces of an oval or polygonal shell keep. The bailey was divided into an inner and outer ward, the latter formed by a bank and ditch on the steep southern slopes of the hill.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Uncertain remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ80795816

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 417929

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern) p7
Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern) p75
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p120-1
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p235
Guy, John, 1980, Kent Castles (Meresborough Books)
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p235
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Chalkley Gould and Downham, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Kent Vol1 p423-4
Sands, Harold, 1907, 'Some Kentish Castles' in Ditchfield and Clinch, Memorials of Old Kent (London) p48-9
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p46-7
Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p429-3
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p342
Hasted, Edward, 1778-99, A History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent Vol2 p498

Journal Articles

Ward, A., 1997, 'The castles of Kent no2: Thurnham Castle' Kent Archaeological Society Newsletter Vol39 p2-4
King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
Clark, G.T., 1869, The Builder Vol27 p350 [reprinted in MMA]

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p250
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p30; Vol4 p46

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