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Old Soar Manor is a fortified medieval house located near Plaxtol in Kent, dating to the mid-thirteenth century. The surviving structure comprises a residential tower of stone construction with adjoining domestic ranges, representing an early example of a knight's dwelling combining residential comfort with defensive capability. Built during the reign of Henry III, the manor exemplifies the architectural transition between purely military fortifications and the more comfortable manor houses of the later medieval period. The site demonstrates the typical layout of a medieval gentry residence, with evidence of a hall, solar, and service quarters arranged around a courtyard, and remains one of the best-preserved examples of thirteenth-century domestic architecture in southern England.
Old Soar Manor: a fortified medieval house is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014532. View the official record →
Old Soar Manor is a fortified medieval house located near Plaxtol in Kent, dating to the mid-thirteenth century. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1014532.
Old Soar Manor: a fortified medieval house is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1014532.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Roughway Bridge (1.5 km), Preceptory at Dukes Place (3.2 km), Ightham Mote Medieval moated site (3.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Old Soar Manor: a fortified medieval house's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Old Soar Manor: a fortified medieval house stands on Lower Greensand Group, bedrock that formed in the Albian. The rock here is sandstone and mudstone.