STATELY HOMES, CASTLES & TOWERS

SALTWOOD CASTLE
49 CASTLE RD, HYTHE CT21

**PARANORMAL ACTIVITY**
In the Yellow Room, Alan's father, Kenneth Clark, and several guests, including an actress, heard voices and bells at 5 a.m. Alan Clark's wife and several guests have seen a ghost monk in one of the bedrooms, and a woman in grey haunts the library. Alan Clark himself has said, "I have experienced too much of the supernatural to waste my time with sceptics."
**HISTORY**
The importance of this position for coastal defence was recognized early. There are signs that the Britons threw up earthworks at the head of an inlet of the sea here, which later the invading Romans strengthened. As their line of communication with Rome lay through this part of Kent, the Romans clung to it after all else was lost. But their desperate resistance to the Saxons was in vain, and in 488 AD, Osric, the son of Hengist, built a fort here. 
In the time of Canute, Haldane, a Saxon thegn, around 1026, gave the manor of Saltwood, with Hythe as an appanage, to the monks of Christchurch, Canterbury. Lanfranc, dividing the property of See, kept Saltwood Manor; it became an "honour" held under the Archbishops by different knights. 
Hugo de Montfort repaired and strengthened it; Henry of Essex, Barn de Raleigh, and Constable of England rebuilt it around 1154. The walls of his chapel still stand, showing traces of the windows on the south side, while other architectural remains indicate its ecclesiastical nature. The stone-ribbed ceiling of his gatehouse, the portcullis grooves, and the hook-stones and hooks for the gates may still be seen in the back room of the gatehouse. Raleigh was Warden of the Cinque Ports and Hereditary Standard Bearer to the King, but for his cowardice and treason in the Welsh wars, he forfeited his lands, and the King then seized the Castle of Saltwood. The King then granted it to Randulph de Broc. Then, Saltwood Castle became associated with one of the most striking and lurid incidents in English history. 
On becoming Archbishop, Thomas Becket had claimed Saltwood as an ancient possession of See, thus rousing de Broc's hostility. So, in 1174, four knights, spurred on by King Henry's uncontrollable words against Becket, left Becket, and by arrangement via de Broc, after landing, two at Dover and two at Winchelsea, they met at Saltwood Castle. Possibly using the spiral stone stairs and entering into the lower rooms in the square portion of the gatehouse, the candles being extinguished and in the darkness of the long winter night of December 28th, the significant meeting took place, and the four guests, along with their host, plotted the murder. Early the next day, they galloped the fifteen miles along the straight line of the old Roman Stone Street to Canterbury, and there, one of the de Brocs who had charge of the Archbishop's palace during his absence guided the four murderers the fatal deed. Afterwards, the four knights rode back that stormy night to Saltwood Castle. 
Upon his death, Randulph de Broc forbade the monks from laying the Archbishop amongst his predecessors; instead, he was buried in the crypt of Canterbury.
It was believed that "a new burst of miraculous power had broken out at the tomb," for three centuries, his body lay amongst treasures of art and devotion, a centre to which streamed a constant succession of pilgrimages from all parts of Europe. Many devout pilgrims from northeast Europe landed at Hythe. They passed under the walls of Saltwood Castle on their way, by bridle-path over the downs or along old British roads through Stowting or Wye, to the shrine of de Broc's victorious victim. 
The Archbishops soon regained possession of the castle, for King John granted "Saltwode" afresh to the See. They frequently resided here, and later on, a chapel in the castle was dedicated to "St. Mary and St. Thomas." 
Many of the entries relating to Saltwood are in the Archiepiscopal registers. In about 1347, the Archbishop paid "aid" for Saltwood when the Black Prince was knighted. Archbishop Whittlesey, also in Edward III's reign, made Simon de Burgh Constable of Saltwood at a salary of £20 per annum, payable at the Feasts of Easter and St. Michael. 
The keep wall, outside which remains of masonry, shows the probability of a wooden footbridge across the moat to serve the village people on their way to Mass. The chapel must have been built over a crypt since the position of the piscina shows that it was on a level with the large hall standing next to it. This Hall of Audience was erected above the strongly vaulted cellar, the roof of which is of the same date as that in the lower portion of the gatehouse built by Raleigh. 
The well in the centre of the inner bailey is 62 feet deep and 8 feet square. Two square towers are found within the keep wall, the lower storeys of each having formed dungeons without light or ventilation. At the time of his death, Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon, was adding four bays to the front to meet his circular towers, with a new drawbridge, gates, and portcullis, using master mason Henry Yevele. 
Guard rooms and little cells occupied the ground floor of the towers, which stand nearly 80 feet high. Two shields above the front door show Courtenay's arms alone and impaled with those of the See. 
Archbishop Arundel held here an examination of the famous Lollard, William Thorpe, who was "confined and grievously tormented" in the dungeons of Saltwood. He writes himself: "Some counselled the Archbishop to burn me by and by, and some counselled him to drown me in the sea, for it is near hand here"; and later, "Then was I led forth and brought into a foul unionist prison where I never came before." 
Edward II and Queen Elizabeth I visited the castle during their reigns. 
In 1540, Thomas Cranmer, Leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury, conveyed this manor to King Henry VIII and his successors. 
An earthquake in 1580 did much damage. Further earthquakes and human neglect gradually completed the ruin of the place. 
Changes of owners and reversions to the Crown were many; of note, Charles I settled a fee-farm of £24 8s 4d out of the Manor of Saltwood as a dower for Queen Henrietta Maria.
Sir William Boteler and his descendants held it until 1712 when Brook Bridges of Goodnestone bought it.
In 1794, William Deedes of Sandling, after his marriage with Sophia Bridges, exchanged lands near Goodnestone for the Saltwood Castle estate.
In 1874, implements and copper ingots discovered in Hayne’s Wood, an indication the area was used in the bronze age.
The gatehouse had been used as a farmhouse and fell into still greater decay until it was saved from complete ruin by William Deedes, grandson of the first and uncle of William Deedes. This restoration began in 1882 and was carried out on the lines of the original building by the well-known architect Mr. Frederick Beeston. During the restoration, working men's tokens bearing German inscriptions were discovered, showing by the date that German skilled labour was employed for repairs. 
In 1955, Kenneth Clark, a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster, purchased it, and his son, Alan Clark, a minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, subsequently lived there. In 1971–2, Lord Clark employed John King to construct a bungalow, The Garden House, at the moat's edge as a residence for him and his wife. After Alan Clark's death, he was buried in the grounds of the castle, which remains in the Clark family today.
His wife Jane takes care of the castle and grounds with her dedicated team and the Castle has regular Charity fund raising events, on open days, and conducts educational and private group tours.