Higham Blockhouse (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ70117544
Latitude 51.45243° Longitude 0.44695°

Higham Blockhouse has been described as a probable Artillery Fort.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The possible site of Higham Blockhouse, a small artillery blockhouse built by Henry VIII in 1539 as part of his chain of coastal defences in response to the threat of foreign invasion. It was one of five blockhouses built along this stretch of the river Thames to defend the approach to London and the dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford; the others being at Tilbury, East Tilbury, Milton and Gravesend. It was decommissioned in 1553 and demolished in 1557-8. It was probably a D-shaped blockhouse similar to Gravesend and East Tilbury blockhouses. Nothing remains of the blockhouse and its precise location is not known although it may have stood on the west bank of Shorne Creek where it meets the River Thames. The remains of the blockhouse are shown on Robert Adam's 1588 map of the Thames Defences. (PastScape)

There is no architectural record of Higham Blockhouse and the position is not accurately known. It was probably on the west bank of Shorne Creek where it joins the river Thames. The blockhouse was one of five built in 1549. It was disarmed in 1553 as part of a general rundown of defences ordered by Northumberland and it was demolished in 1557-8. (PastScape ref. HKW)

Comments

Despite stating the location is uncertain the PastScape record gives a very precise map reference of TQ7011875445. In fact nothing is shown at this location on the 1588 map. Gatehouse considers this may actually be the Erith fort at about TQ515782. Cliffe Fort at TQ70667665 is a C19 fort just outside the Higham parish boundary but would seem the most appropriate location for a fort but one would still expect this to be on the 1588 map. It seems to have been assumed that the Hiegham mentioned in the Tudor papers is a reference to Higham parish but Higham is a common placename, although there does not seem to be a Higham placename in Erith parish.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 416687.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 77 NW 19.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- British Library online gallery
Books
- Harrington, Peter, 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII (Oxford: Osprey) p. 8, 28, 38, 56, 60-61
  Saunders, Andrew, 1995, 'Thames fortifications during the 16th to 19th centuries' in Thames Gateway: recording historic buildings and landscapes on the Thames estuary (RCHME) p. 124-134
  Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton)
  Saunders, A.D., 1985, Tilbury Fort Essex (London: English Heritage) p. 4
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 236
  Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works, Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 602-6
  Smithers, David Waldron, 1980, Castles in Kent (Chatham)
  Bennett, D., 1977, A handbook of Kent's defences from 1540 until 1945 p. 9
  Hasted, Edward, 1797 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 3 p. 481- (slight) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Smith, V.T.C., 1974, 'The Artillery Defences at Gravesend' Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 89 p. 141-168 online copy
  Smith, V.T.C., 1968, 'The Higham blockhouse hypothesis' Transactions of the Gravesend Historical Society p. 13-16
  Saunders, A.D., 1960, 'Tilbury Fort and the Development of Artillery Fortification in the Thames Estuary' Antiquaries Journal Vol. 40 p. 153-4
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Thamesis Descriptio Anno 1588 online copy
  Gairdner, J. and Brodie, R.H. (eds), 1894, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII Vol. 14.1 p. 151-2 no. 398 online copy
  Gairdner, J. and Brodie, R.H. (eds), 1896, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII Vol. 15 p. 131 no. 323 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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