Allington Castle

Origins and Medieval Development

Allington Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway near Maidstone in Kent. The first fortification on the site was an adulterine motte‑and‑bailey castle constructed during The Anarchy (1135–1153) by supporters of Empress Matilda. King Henry II ordered all unlicensed castles demolished in 1174, and this early motte was levelled. Around 1279–1299 the estate’s owner, Stephen de Pencester (warden of the Cinque Ports), rebuilt Allington as a fortified manor. In 1281 he obtained a licence to crenellate from Edward I, allowing him to surround his stone mansion with walls, towers and a gatehouse.

Pencester’s house formed a rectangular courtyard with corner towers, a great hall and domestic ranges. After his death the castle passed through the Cobham family and eventually to Sir Henry Wyatt in 1492. Wyatt, a loyal courtier to Henry VII, modernised the building, inserting large windows and creating one of the earliest long galleries in England. Both Henry VII and Henry VIII dined at Allington, and Wyatt’s son, the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, grew up here. The young Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger launched his ill‑fated rebellion against Queen Mary I from Allington in 1554, and after his execution the Crown seized the estate.

Decline and Ruin

Allington changed hands repeatedly over the next century. Without a resident noble family the castle decayed; by the 17th century it was partly dismantled and its stone reused for local building. A farmhouse occupied the surviving central range, and the great hall was used as a barn. An 18th‑century engraving shows ruined towers and curtain walls enclosing farm buildings.

Twentieth‑Century Restoration and Later Use

In 1905 the art historian and politician Sir Martin Conway purchased Allington and began a remarkable restoration project. Over nearly three decades he and his wife reconstructed the gatehouse and curtain walls, reroofed the hall and inserted new tracery windows, blending surviving medieval fabric with sympathetic Arts and Crafts detailing. After the Conways died the house remained empty until 1951, when it was acquired by a community of Carmelite friars, who completed further repairs and used it as a monastery until 1999. The castle is now a private residence run by Allington Castle Ltd. It is not generally open to the public but can be booked for weddings, receptions and pre‑arranged group tours.