A HISTORY OF KENT When Hasted wrote' much more of the bailey walls were m evidence, though ' honeycombed and almost eaten up by the weather and length of time . . . they are about 14 ft. high and near 3 broad.' Traces of walling remained round the keep mount, and large fragments had been tumbled into the chalk quarry on the southern side. The castle commands one of the most extensive views in Kent, overlooking the Pilgrim Way at a short distance below and the wide stretch of the Weald. ToNBRiDGE : Castle and Town Wall. — The castle is upon a spur or bank of gravel projecting southward from higher ground, scarped and re-formed in creating this typical mount and court stronghold. It stands amidst the lowlands of the Medway and its tributary streams, which, with the marshes, defended the position on the south and west. I Castle and Town Wall, Tonbridce. Fortunately the most striking feature remains fairly intact, for the mighty mount, standing nearly 60 ft. above its moat and commanding the surrounding country, has been altered only by cutting footpaths for access to the summit ; but its moat has, on the side next the base-court on the south-east, been furnished with a culvert and levelled, whilst it has in some other portions been partially filled with earth. The first castle to crown the mount was doubtless of timber, forming such a defensive work as we have had to notice elsewhere (see Saltwood, etc.), but owing to the character of the ground it was possible to build with stone at an early period, and we find the remains of a shell keep of masonry on the summit. A culvert may have been constructed in the position above mentioned when the stone castle was > Hist, of Kent (1782), ii. 424
