Higham Blockhouse

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Heigham; Erith

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

Henry VIII artillery blockhouse of 1539. No remains. Was a D shaped, two storey tower probably of brick with ashlar dressing. Shown on a map of Thames defences in 1588. No physical evidence found. Leland includes Erith in a list of places in Kent with a castle and I presume this refers to this blockhouse (Higham was a hamlet in Erith parish).

This site has been described as a;
Artillery Fort.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ7075

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 416687

Books

Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton)
Saunders, A.D., 1985, Tilbury Fort Essex (English Heritage) p4
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p236
Smithers, David Waldron, 1980, Castles in Kent (Chatham)

Journal Articles

Smith, V.T.C., 1974, 'The Artillery Defences at Gravesend' Archaeologia Cantiana Vol89 p141-168
Smith, V.T.C., 1968, 'The Higham blockhouse hypothesis’, Transactions of the Gravesend Historical Society p13-16
Saunders, A.D., 1960, The Antiquaries Journal Vol40 p153-4

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

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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