After flicking through a 1930′s guidebook to Southend and the surrounding area, i found a few interesting pictures of Hadleigh castle, taken prior to 1930. They show the north-east tower in almost as good condition as the ‘big one’ (south-east) which remains today, and is seen as the main part of the castle, even though this is just one of the original four which have crumbled away now.
This aerial image shows the tower to the top-left in almost as good condition as the top-right one which remains in full glory today
This image again shows the North-East tower in far better condition than it remains today
One of the four towers, the one to the South-West, remains in part down the hill in the bushes. A clear line from the hill can be seen as to where a landslide occurred, sending the southern wall of the castle down the hill’s side. In it’s day, the portion of the castle amongst the shrubbery would have stood flat on the grassy area of the hill like the rest of it does today. The North-West tower exists as only the first floor, used as a kitchen, which can be found as a flat area of the castle’s concrete/stone on which it is a popular seating area. The castle was doomed for collapse almost as soon as it was built. It began to fall down under 100 years of it standing, despite being used for many centuries!
A coloured photograph of the castle in the 1890s - it was very overgrown for many years just before this era
[...] really touched on, apart from BTP Liam’s quick post with a picture, that can be seen here. In 1215 King John gave this area of land, known as the manor of Hadleigh, along with many other [...]