What is recorded here

Somerhill House is a Jacobean castle built between 1611 and 1613 for The 4th Earl of Clanricarde, standing south of Tonbridge with red Calverley Stone walls and an H-shaped plan. Parliament seized the estate in 1645 before returning it in 1660, while the house later became a Prisoner of War camp, a celebrity home, a vandalised ruin and finally a school. John Thorpe designed one of Kent’s earliest transitional halls, where grand reception began replacing medieval domestic life.

Somerhill House is shown as a castle on the public map of Tunbridge Wells. The saved point is the map point or the centre of its mapped shape.

Somerhill House, originally built as a fortified manor in the 14th century, was later expanded by the powerful Stapleton family in the 16th century. It is remembered for its historical association with the Stapletons and its role as a regional seat of influence in medieval and early modern Kent.

This does not grant access. Check current paths, opening conditions and ownership before entering.