The Enigma of Bayford Castle
Sittingbourne once had a castle. It stood at the head of Milton Creek and although pinpointed since the earliest of times on OS maps, no trace of it now remains. Despite extensive research, we have no record of its history. We know it existed, as it was included on Christopher Saxton's map of the manors of Bayford and Goodnarnston dated 1590. He showed it to cover an area of over four acres. It should not however be confused with Bayford Court, a moated manor house, the original of which is thought to predate to c1368, and which lays a short distance to the south.
Saxton's map describes the site of Goodnarnston manor house as "castle ruffe", which gave rise to confusion about the true site of Haesten's Viking fortress. Bayford and Goodnarnston were originally separate manors but from c1368 were held by the same person, the first being Robert de Nottingham. He resided at Bayford Court, as several documents attest, and he allowed Goodnarnston manor to become derelict.
All we now have is the charming local legend that recalls, when the Vikings under the leadership of Haesten landed at Castle Rough, Kemsley in AD 892, King Alfred marched his troops here and built a fortress on the opposite bank of the Creek from where he could keep his eye on the invaders. This is a legend perpetuated by such early antiquarians as Hasted and Ireland. Perhaps Gough also heard of this legend as in his 'Camden's Britannia' 1, 1789, he suggested a building date of AD 893 for the castle, but it has no basis in fact.
There is no evidence of Alfred ever coming to Sittingbourne and when the Sittingbourne & Swale Archaeological Group carried out an excavation of Castle Rough in 1972, they found absolutely no evidence of former Viking occupation. It could be the original site was buried within the foundations of the paper mill that stands a few hundred yards away on the higher ground.
From what I've recently learned through my studies with the University of Exeter, I believe the site of Bayford Castle is much earlier than was originally thought. I believe it predates to Roman times, a theory drawn from I.C.Gould's 'Victoria County History of Kent', 1908. Gould noticed some earthworks extending from St Michael's church to Bayford Court. (See fig.1.) Following considerable industrial activity in this area in the late 19th century, these earthworks and any other traces of the castle, no longer exist.
Sittingbourne stands astride Watling Street, the old Roman road that leads from Richborough and Dover to London and beyond. It no longer follows its original line however. Local historian Sydney Twist realized this when he wrote his book 'Murston Village & Parish' in 1981. In it he suggested, in addition to Watling Street, there was another Roman road lying slightly to the north, connecting Reculver to Rochester. Parts of this road can still be seen as the Lower Road and you can easily trace its route. I now believe this to be not a Roman road, but an even earlier Celtic trackway traversing the county.
At first I presumed when the Romans landed at Richborough, they built Watling Street as they progressed across the southeast towards Colchester. London did not exist at that time. What I now think happened was that to begin with the Romans used existing Celtic trackways to move across Kent and it was only after the local tribes had been subdued that the Romans decided they needed a direct and fast route back to the Channel ports. This was when Watling Street was built.
The Roman army marched on average sixteen miles a day. There were overnight halts at such places as Canterbury, Durolevum (now thought to be Ospringe) and Rochester. Could it be that Sittingbourne was the overnight resting place between the latter two? The castle site lies on the line of the ancient trackway they would have used and the earthworks noticed by Gould look very similar to the lines of a standard Roman encampment.
Roman encampments, even those used for an overnight halt, were elaborate, laid out to a standard uniform pattern. (See fig.2) After the troops moved on, they were left intact ready for the next occupants. Many became way stations where those travelling on official business could change horses, get a meal and find overnight accommodation. These way stations, or mutationes, and inns, mansiones, were established at intervals of approximately 16 miles along all the principal highways throughout the empire. They were similar to the later inns that served the stagecoach industry. As Sittingbourne was to later become a renowned overnight halt for pilgrims, travellers and stagecoaches, it seems likely that was a trend started earlier in Roman times.
In conclusion therefore, the theory about Bayford Castle is that it began as an overnight encampment for the Roman army travelling to and from the Channel ports. After the southeast had been subjugated, the encampment became an overnight halt, or way station, for those on official business, but after the Romans left Britain in AD 410 it fell into disuse and was finally destroyed with any masonry left on site being used to build the two manor houses.
John Clancy