Eynsford Castle
Eynsford Castle lies in the village of the same name, in the county of Kent in England.
Eynsford Castle was built, on the site of an Anglo-Saxon building overlooking the River Darent, between 1085 and 1087, probably by William de Eynsford I, a knight and sheriff of Kent.
The castle is a rare survival of an early Norman ‘enclosure castle’, which did not have a keep. In 1130 the castle was strengthened by heightening the curtain wall and adding a gate tower. Around the same time, a hall and associated buildings were built inside the castle walls. Following a fire, these buildings were reconstructed around 1250.
In 1261 the Eynsford family died out and the castle and its lands were split up between the Heringaud and Criol families, which caused much dispute. This dispute reached a climax in 1312 when Nicholas de Criol and his supporters broke in and vandalised Eynsford Castle as a protest against Judge William Inge, who had bought the castle from the Heringaud family. Soon afterwards it was abandoned.
Eventually Eynsford Castle passed into the ownership of the Hart family of nearby Lullingstone Castle in 1501. It was used for some time as a manorial court, but the buildings gradually fell into disrepair. By the mid-18th century the castle was being used as stables and kennels for hunting hounds.
In 1835 the castle ceased to be used as kennels and recent structures were removed to conduct archaeological excavations. After that the castle again fell into neglect and in 1872 sections of the curtain wall collapsed. The castle was taken into state guardianship in 1948.
At present Eynsford Castle is freely accessible during daytime. A nice but rather simple castle ruin.
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