Bayford Court (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Sittingbourne.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ91156400
Latitude 51.34294° Longitude 0.74317°

Bayford Court has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Low banks extend from the church at Sittingbourne to Bayford Court which is surrounded by a moat, three sides of which remain. Bayford Court may be the fortress which the Danish army built at Middleton in 893. Castle Rough (TQ 96 NW 10) is usually said to be the site of the work, but its form is against this view, and it would seem probable that the lines of work about Bayford Court are more likely to have sheltered Hasten's men (VCH). The moat at Bayford Court is as described by Gould, water-filled but in poor condition. The enclosed area, now a kitchen garden, is full of building debris including flint and ragstone. The low banks shown by Gould are practically destroyed but do not appear to have been of any importance. The present Bayford Court is circa 1700 and later in external appearance but there is half-timbered work internally (F1 CFW 08-JUL-63). (PastScape)

Comments

Bayford Court seems to be a partial square moat with some slight earth banks that do not make any sort of defensive circuit (although they may represent flood defences). Spurell speculated this was the site of a Danish winter war camp. It may be in the C19 the waterways were somewhat different than now and that ships could be drawn up here (a vital characteristic of such camps) but the evidence for that seems slight. It should also be noted that Saxton's 1580 plan shows the moat about an orchard with the house outside the moat.
There seems to be confabulation and confusion between Bayford Court, Bayford Castle (including in earlier pre 2012, version of this record) and, to slightly lesser extent, Castle Rough.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 420089.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 96 SW 15.

Books
- Guy, John, 1980, Kent Castles (Meresborough Books)
  Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 20
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 236
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Kent Vol. 1 p. 433 online copy
  Sands, Harold, 1907, 'Some Kentish Castles' in Ditchfield and Clinch, Memorials of Old Kent (London) p. 179-80 (Called Bayford Castle but describes Bayford Court) online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 5 online copy
  Hasted, Edward, 1798 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 6 p. 150- online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Gould, I. Chalkley, 1907, 'Traces of Saxons and Danes in the Earthworks of Essex' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 64 p. 227-42 online copy
  Spurrell, F.C.J., 1885, 'Early site and embankments on the margins of the Thames estuary' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 42 p. 293-4 (plan) online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1881, 'The castles of England and Wales at the Latter part of the Twelfth Century' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 38 p. 258-76, 336-35 esp. 260 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Saxton, C., 1590, Manors of Bayford and Goodmanston view online
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Kent County Council, December 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey (Kent County Council and English Heritage) view online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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