New Buckenham Castle

In the civil parish of New Buckenham.
In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).

Remains of castle earthworks, moat and keep. Built circa 1145-50 by William II de Albini to replace Old Buckenham Castle (qv). It comprises an inner bailey and two outer baileys, all with earth walls. The circular keep is the earliest in England. Its walls are 11ft thick at the foot and the total height of the keep may have been as much as 40ft. The castle was demolished in the 1640's by the then owner (Sir Philip Knyvet) perhaps at the request of Parliament. The earliest castle seems to have been a simple ringwork 200 ft across with an oval outer enclosure (or bailey) to the East, defended by a bank and ditch. Later, the ditch of the ringmotte was widened and the bank thereof correspondingly raised, burying a stone gatehouse beside the keep, and a new entrance was made (on the opposite side) from a new bailey to the SW. Nothing remains above the ground storey. There is evidence of a second bailey to the South-West. The round keep is flint built. There is a traditional of circular church towers in this part of Norfolk and, in my opinion, this represents the economic necessity of reducing the expensive ashlar stone work required for corners and pilasters in an area where there is no readily available quality building stone.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry footings remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM08429041

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 387635

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 9200

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_east_anglia/144/newbuckenhamcastle.htm
• Books
  • Cushion, B. and Davison, A., 2003, Earthworks of Norfolk (Dereham: East Anglian Archaeology 104) p175-7 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p60-1
    Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (Oxford: BAR 309) p44-74
    Remfry, Paul M., 1997, Buckenham Castles, 1066 to 1649 (SCS Publishing: Worcestershire)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p161
    Margeson, S., Seiller, F. and Rogerson, A., 1994, The Normans in Norfolk (Norfolk Museums Service) p88
    Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p68-9
    Wade-Martins, P. (ed), 1987, Norfolk From The Air Vol1 (Norfolk Museums Service) p32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p308
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p264-5
    Wilton, J.W., 1979, Earthworks and Fortifications of Norfolk (Weathercock Press) p22-3
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1962, Buildings of England: North-west and south Norfolk (Penguin) p268-9
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p288-9
    Harrod, Henry, 1857, Gleanings among the Castles and Convents of Norfolk (Norwich) p214-9
• Journal Articles
  • Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p312
    Rigold, S., 1980, ‘New Buckenham Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol137 p353-5
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    Renn, D.F., 1961, 'The Keep of New Buckenham' Norfolk Archaeology Vol32 p232-5
    Cozens-Hardy, 1929, Norfolk Archaeology Vol23 p.lxxvii-ix
    Manning, Revd C.R., 1892, 'Buckenham Castle' Norfolk Archaeology Vol11 p137-142
• Guidebooks
  • Westgate, Peter, 1937, Buckenham Castle: A Monograph (London)
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/norfeng.html#norf3]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p317