Ipswich Castle

In the civil parish of Ipswich.
In the historic county of Suffolk (Modern Authority of Suffolk, 1974 county of Suffolk).

Vanished. Said to have been some kind of castle built after the Conquest, perhaps in the early year's of William I's reign as part of his programme to subdue the country. Matilda's son Henry besieged it in 1152. It was later held against him when Hugh Bigot supported the rebellion of Henry II's sons. That led to Ipswich castle's demolition by Henry II in 1176. For a discussion on the debatable topic of this castles location see http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture/towns/ipswmap1.html#p05

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM165447

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; 388127

• Web site links
  • http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture/towns/ipswic12.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern) p9
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p80
    Martin, Edward, 1999 [3edn], 'Medieval Castles' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p58-9
    Wade, Keith, 1999 [3edn], 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Ipswich' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p158-9
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p460
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p210
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p282
• Journal Articles
  • West, 1963, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol29 p233
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/essexeng.html#suff8]