The walls of Thurnham Castle once again reverberated to the sounds of chain mail and sword on shield when it played host to the North Downs Young Archaeologists Club "Discovery Day" on National Archaeology Day in July 2001. Visitors were able to try fast food medieval style, whilst enjoying demonstrations by the Feudal Archers re-enactment society of combat, heraldry and other aspects of medieval life.

Perched on the edge of the Kent Downs, the picturesque ruin of this medieval castle has commanding views over Thurnham village and church and beyond across the Greensand Vale of Holmesdale. The strategic position of the castle dominated the Pilgrims Way to Canterbury and the route between Maidstone and Sittingbourne. Little, however, is known about the construction and occupation of Thurnham Castle which has been covered by thick vegetation for many years. The site, part of Kent County Council's White Horse Wood Millennium Project, has recently been cleared of scrub down to ground level, revealing lost sections of masonry and possible structures within the bailey area.

Thurnham Castle is one visible feature of historic times in the Kent Downs but this area was a focus for activity from much earlier, indeed from the prehistoric period. To the west, where woodland is proposed for the White Horse Millennium Project, archaeological fieldwork has been taking place, part funded by English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund. The North Downs Young Archaeologists Club, under the guidance of KCC's Heritage Conservation Group and the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, carried out an extensive programme of fieldwalking. A range of artefacts was recovered including part of a Neolithic polished axe (4,000 - 1,800 BC) and prehistoric worked flints, such as a Bronze Age scraper (1,800 - 600 BC). The polished axe would probably have been a valued possession and certainly suggests Neolithic activity in this area. Based on the fieldwalking, targeted trial trenching was carried out by Archaeology South East, revealing a late Bronze Age - early Iron Age enclosure (900 - 500 BC). The enclosure is sited in a prominent position but further work would be required to clarify its nature and character; does it enclose a small settlement or a seasonal camp or does it represent something more organised, even a small promontory fort? The site will be preserved undisturbed in a clearing within White Horse Wood, due to open to the public in 2002.

The evocative remains of Thurnham Castle are a visible reminder of one aspect of life on the Downs in the past but, as the enclosure clearly shows, there is much still to be discovered of the rich tapestry of archaeology on the North Kent Downs.

For further information on Thurnham Castle and surrounding archaeology contact Wendy Rogers Tel. 01622 221540.