New Castle County, Delaware On November 6, 1674, New Amstel was made dependent on New York Colony, and was renamed New Castle on November 11, 1674. On September 22, 1676, New Castle County was formally placed under the Duke of York's laws. It gained land from Upland County on November 12, 1678. On June 21, 1680, St. Jones County was carved from New Castle County. It is known today as Kent County, Delaware. On August 24, 1682, New Castle County, along with the rest of the surrounding land, was transferred from the Colony of New York to the possession of William Penn, who established
Chilham on the Julliberrie Downs east of the river. Chilham and the surrounding area was one of the locations for much of Powell and Pressburger's 1944 film "A Canterbury Tale". In 1965 it was used for part of the filming of "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders" starring Kim Novak, Leo McKern and Angela Lansbury, and it was also used as a location for the BBC's 2009 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel "Emma". The village and the castle featured heavily in a fake snow-bound episode of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" called "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" starring David Suchet. The village was made over