England · Partial ruin
Westenhanger Castle
Westenhanger Castle is a fortified 14th-century quadrangular manor house in Kent, England, originally built by the de Criol family. The complex includes a stone curtain wall, a round tower and an attached manor range; it has suffered reduction and neglect but is undergoing conservation and is used as a conference and wedding venue.
First raised
1343
Its prime
1343
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1343
What Westenhanger Castle looked like in its prime.
A 14th‑century quadrangular fortified manor: thick light‑grey flint curtain walls with patched areas of red brick, an attached two‑storey red‑brick manor range with a steep tiled roof and dormer windows, and a prominent round drum tower with a conical roof; the building sits above a broad grassy ditch and is surrounded by mature trees. At its prime the curtain formed a continuous enclosure around an inner courtyard and ancillary barns stood outside the wall.
Its story
The story of Westenhanger Castle.
The estate at Westenhanger was royal land long before the castle: King Canute owned it in 1035. The permanent structure came in 1343, built by the de Criol family, descendants of Bertram de Criol, who held it until the Wars of the Roses, Sir Thomas de Criol, or Kyriell, was beheaded the day after the Second Battle of St Albans on the order of Queen Margaret of Anjou.
Royalty and nobility run right through its history, Henry II, Rosamund de Clifford, Edward Poynings, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I are all connected with the house. Westenhanger, or Ostenhanger as it then was, came to Thomas 'Customer' Smythe as a reward for his service as the Queen's collector of imports, and it descended in the Smythe family until Percy Smythe, 8th Viscount Strangford, died without issue in 1869.
The fortified manor, stone curtain wall, round tower and attached manor range, endured a steady decline to near ruination, but the current owners have engaged a programme of consolidation, conservation and restoration. The castle, standing next to Westenhanger railway station and the grandstand of Folkestone Racecourse, now earns its keep as a conference and wedding venue.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1343.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Westenhanger Castle, including 1 interior: inner courtyard (bailey). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Westenhanger Castle.
The families that held Westenhanger Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Criol
Built the castle in 1343 and held it until the Wars of the Roses, when Sir Thomas de Criol was beheaded after the Second Battle of St Albans.
Smythe
Granted to Thomas 'Customer' Smythe for his service as the Queen's collector of imports; descended in the family until the death of the 8th Viscount Strangford in 1869.
Nearby
