Gravel Castle

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

Guy writes 'Shown as castle on OS map but no evidence obvious on extensively ploughed ground.' I can't find any feature at this reference on the 1877 6" OS map, other than the Gravel Castle placename. This is not a manorial centre. There are a considerable number of barrows in the area but I can't find a record of such a feature in the PastScape for this location. The question of the origin of the placename remains unanswered. If originally a barrow why should this particular barrow be called castle when other nearby are not. There are Roman finds in the area but no evidence of a Roman fort here. However the site is not far from the church and this appears to have been an important area for the early anglo-saxons so some status may have remained for the area.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Questionable.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TR213498

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

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