The fortified manor house of Westenhanger was located 3 miles NW of Hythe on a main route to London, on an estate comprised of the 2 partitioned medieval manors of Westenhanger and Ostenhanger. By the early 16th c. the house was quadrangular in plan with coursed ragstone cylindrical towers at 3 corners, rectangular towers at the SE corner and in the middle of 3 blocks and a gatehouse in the middle of the W side. The residential range, with the great hall and kitchens, faced the gatehouse on the E side.
The present red brick house in the NE corner of the site was constructed in the 18th c., incorporating the remains of the 16th c. cross-wing at the low end of the Tudor hall. The E curtain wall serves as 1 wall of the house, which is set within the N side of a now ruinous walled enclosure with the remains of the 4 towers surrounded by a partly filled moat. 2 towers still stand to full height including the NE dovecote tower. The S curtain wall, W end of N wall and S end of the E wall, as well as the S courtyard range, have not survived.
Although relevant family records do not survive, Sir Edward Poynings' entertainers are recorded elsewhere in the SE in the early 16th c. It is likely that they also performed at their patron's residence.
Privately owned but open to the public at specified times.
ca. 1300 The 2 manors of Westenhanger and Ostenhanger owned by Nicholas de Criol.
1337 A share of Ostenhanger manor descended via marriage to Sir Thomas de Poynings. The rest, with Westenhanger, remained in the de Criol family.
1343 Sir John de Criol granted licence to crenellate Westenhanger. Curtain walls with 7 towers built and gatehouse on W side rebuilt.
late 15th c. Ostenhanger, with a share of Westenhanger manor, acquired via marriage with Alice de Criol by John Fogg of Repton.
1509 Ostenhanger sold by Thomas Fogg to Sir Edward Poynings, who joined the 2 manors under the name, 'Westenhanger.'
early 16th c. Poynings began extensive and lavish renovations: 'construction of a west range (incorporating part of the earlier gatehouse) and major modifications to the principal accommodation within the east range, including the reconstruction of the rooms at the low end of the hall in the form of a three-storeyed cross-wing, the remodelling of the dovecote in the upper storey of the north-eastern tower, the rebuilding of the adjacent kitchens, and the reconstruction of a large part of the northern curtain wall's eastern end. Documentary sources indicate that work was also undertaken beyond the high end of the hall where Sir Edward built an elaborate chapel' (Martin, 'Westenhanger' 221).
1540 Acquired from Sir Thomas Poynings by Henry VIII in exchange for land elsewhere.
1547 Granted to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick.
1549 Restored to the Crown in exchange for lands elsewhere (Colvin, King's Works 4.2284).
1550 Granted to Edward Fiennes, Lord Clinton.
1552 Sold to Sir Richard Sackville.
1566 Recovered by the Crown on Sackville's death.
1585 Granted to Sir Thomas Smythe, a wealthy Kent customs-farmer, by Elizabeth I. Renovations may have included the addition of the S range.
mid-17th c. A surviving inventory made on the death of Thomas Smythe, 1st Lord Viscount Strangford, confirms the status of Westenhanger as one of the largest manor houses in SE England: 'the inventory lists between 38 and 46 rooms and chambers within the moated enclosure, mostly upon two floors' (Martin, 'Westenhanger' 231).
late 17th c. Sold by the Smythe family to Finch.
1701 Most of the buildings demolished.
18th c. Sold to Justinian Champneys. Georgian house built on the NE corner of the site.
1898--1996 Owned by the Folkestone Racecourse.
1996 Acquired by the Forge family. Building badly decayed and in need of restoration.
1997 Extensive conservation work began and continues with the financial assistance of English Heritage.
REED Kent: Diocese of Canterbury 2.387, 393, 398--401, 405--6, 408, 410--11, 413, 416--17; Sussex 70--5, 79--81, 83, 86--7, 90--2, 186
| Name | Dates | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Poynings, Edward | 1459-1521 | Lord , Knight , Knight of the |
