North Elmham Bishops Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; North Elman

In the civil parish of North Elmham.
In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).

Former church converted into a fortified manor house. Probably built by Bishop Herbert de Losinga (1091-1119) on the site of the Anglo-Saxon Cathedral of Elmham. Bishop Despencer, having obtained licence to crenellate, fortified the site c.1387. Ferruginous conglomerate with flint core and ashlar dressings. Brick dressings to C14 work. Roofless. Western tower with semicircular stair turret, aisleless nave, continuous transept with armpit towers and apse. Evidence for ashlar dressed tower and west transept arches, north and south nave doorways and entrances into armpit towers. C14 work includes a semicircular tower base matching the original stair turret and several masonry partitions with brick dressings. The site is surrounded by C14 earthworks.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 220698)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF98812160

PastScape number; 358933

Web site links

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.36

Books

Cushion, B. and Davison, A., 2003, Earthworks of Norfolk (Dereham: East Anglian Archaeology 104) p119-20 [plan]
Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p62-3
Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (Oxford: BAR 309) p108
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p129
Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p113, 115, 168, 181
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p158-9
Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p68-9
Williamson, Tom, 1993, The origins of Norfolk pp143-54
Wade-Martins, P. (ed), 1987, Norfolk From The Air Vol1 (Norfolk Museums Service) p50
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p308
Wade-Martins, P., 1980, Excavations in North Elmham Park 1967-1972 (Dereham: East Anglian Archaeology 9)
Wilton, J.W., 1979, Earthworks and Fortifications of Norfolk (Weathercock Press) p24-5
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p300-1
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p283, 420

Journal Articles

Fletcher, J., 1982, Norfolk Archaeology Vol38 pt2 p192
Heywood, S.R., 1982, 'The Ruined Church at North Elmham' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol135
Rigold, S.E. and Heywood, S.R., 1980, Archaeologia Vol5 p137-9
Wade-Martins, P., 1970, Norfolk Archaeology Vol35 p25-78, 263-267
Wade-Martins, P., 1969, Norfolk Archaeology Vol34 p352-397
Rigold, S.E., 1962-3, 'The Anglian Cathedral of North Elmham, Norfolk' Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p67-108
1935, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol40 p52-3
Clapham and Godfrey, 1929, Norfolk Archaeology Vol23 p57-60
Clapham and Godfrey, 1926, Antiquaries Journal Vol6 p402-9
Howlett, 1914, Norfolk Archaeology Vol18 p109
B.T.R.C., 1903, The Builder Vol84 p267-70

Guidebooks

Rigold, S.E., 1960, (HMSO) esp p4, 5

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 (1385-1389) p381

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.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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North Elmham Bishops Castle

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF98812160

Sources of information, references and further reading