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Upnor Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Upnore
In the civil parish of Frindsbury Extra.
In the historic county of Kent (Modern Authority of Medway, 1974 county of Kent).
Artillery castle situated on the north western bank of the River Medway. The castle survives in the form of standing buildings and ruined structures and earthworks. It is constructed of ragstone faced with coursed ashlar blocks, along with some red brick. The castle was built in two main phases, initially between 1559 and 1567 to a design by Sir Richard Lee, in order to provide increased protection for Queen Elizabeth's warships, most of which were anchored when out of commission in the sheltered Medway estuary at the nearby, newly established dockyds at Chatham. The second phase of construction, dating to the years between 1599 and 1601, aimed mainly to improve the landward defences of the castle.
This site has been described as a;
Artillery Fort.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
This site is a
Grade 1 listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 172886)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ75857057
PastScape number;
416743
- Web site links
- Books
- Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern) p80-1
Saunders, Andrew, 1997, Channel Defences (London; Batsford/English Heritage) p14, 17, 31, 51, 65, 121
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p131
Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p400, 403, 407, 410-1, 414, 478-82
Guy, John, 1980, Kent Castles (Meresborough Books)
Smithers, David Waldron, 1980, Castles in Kent (Chatham)
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) 312
Bennett, D., 1977, A handbook of Kent's defences from 1540 until 1945 p12
Newman, John, 1976, The buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald (Harmondsworth) p590
Braun, Hugh, 1936, The English castle (Batsford) p111
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
- Journal Articles
- Saunders, A.D., 1969, Archaeological Journal Vol126 p276-8
O'Neil, B.H.St.J., and Evans, S., 1952, 'Upnor Castle, Kent' Archaeologia Cantiana,Vol65 p1-11
- Guidebooks
- 2001, Upnor Castle Kent (English Heritage)
Saunders, A.D., 1985. Upnor Castle, Kent (English Heritage)
Saunders, A.D., 1967. Upnor Castle, Kent (HMSO)
- Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
Most of the sites or buildings
recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission
to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant |
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. |
It is an offence to disturb a
Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of
everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site
without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation. |
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useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors
or if you can add information.
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this site. |
*The listed building
may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site
of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
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