Home | Books | Links
| Fortifications and Castles | Other
Information | Help | Downloads
| Author Information | Contact
Marham Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Hills and Holes
In the civil parish of Marham.
In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).
Rectangular moated site which has been identified as the site of the fortified manor known as Marham Castle. The moated site has maximum overall dimensions of 80m north west-south east by 77m north east-south west. The moat surrounds a central platform on which are the remains of a substantial building. Mounds up to 1.5m in height, projecting externally at the four corners of this enclosure, mark the location of what were probably turrets. The manor at Marham was held in the second half of C13 by William Belet, who received licence to crenellate his house there in 1271. However an Inquistion 1277 found that "the castle of Marham, raised by William Belet, is to the prejudice and nuisance of the king and country". The castle is unlikely to have survived for much longer after this date. See Coulson (2003) p131-133 for details of the licencing and the reasons for this minor site being called a castle.
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1271 June 9.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF70530955
PastScape number;
1091534
Books
- Charles Coulson, 2003, Castles in Medieval Society (OUP; Oxford) p131-3, 135, 140, 173, 324
Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p58
Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (Oxford: BAR 309) p109n17
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) [Shown on map of fortified houses of East Anglia]
Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p68-9
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p309
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p403
Blomefield, Francis [continued by Charles Parkin], 1739-75, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk (Fersfield and Lynn) Vol7 p378-9
Journal Articles
- Leah, Mark, Mathews, Margaret and Davison, Alan, 1997, 'A Survey of the Earthworks at Hills and Holes Plantation, Marham, Norfolk' Norfolk Archaeology Vol42 p506-11
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents
- This section is far from complete and the secondary
sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Calendar of Patent Rolls (1266-1272) p540
Cal.Inq.Misc. Vol1 329, 1089
Most of the sites or buildings
recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission
to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant |
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. |
It is an offence to disturb a
Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of
everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site
without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation. |
Please help me to make this as
useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors
or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with
this site. |
¤¤¤¤¤
