Thetford Castle

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Thetford Castle

Thetford Castle is an Outbound medieval Motte in the market Thetford area Breckland in the English county of Norfolk . The first castle in Thetford, believed to be an 11th century Norman ring work called Red Castle , was replaced by a much larger moth on the other side of the settlement in the 12th century. This new castle was largely destroyed by the troops of Henry II in 1173 , although the huge inner castle , the second largest man-made earth wall in England, remained intact. Recognized as a Scheduled Monument , this moth now forms part of a local park and is called Castle Hill , Castle Mound, or Military Parade .

history

11th century

In the 11th century England's largest cities were concentrated in the east and south-east of the country, mostly in East Anglia . Thetford was then a major settlement and the second largest city in East Anglia. The name "Thetford" comes from "Thaetford" or "The Ford" (German: "Furt"). This river crossing was a key point on the old Icknield Way . Thetford was also an important international trading post and center of pottery. An earth and wood fort was built there in the Iron Age , but fell into disrepair, and in the late Saxon period the town was protected by a burgh or a moat around the settlement.

The first castle in Thetford was Red Castle, which was probably built shortly after the Norman conquest of England by William de Warenne , the Earl of Surrey . The castle was built as a ringwork and lay on the Saxon defensive moat. During construction, the church was separated from the city center and the cemetery was partially built over.

12th Century

The moth; the earthworks in the foreground are from the Middle Ages (left) or from the Iron Age (right).

Around 1100 the Norman Baron Roger Bigod controlled the town of Thetford. Roger Bigod decided to have a new moth built, in a location that could monitor both the city and Icknield Way across the Thet and Little Ouse .

In the heart of the castle was a huge moth, an artificial mound around which a moat was drawn and which was protected in the north by two defensive walls , which were probably part of the old fortification from the Iron Age. At 19.6 meters high (22 meters from the bottom of the moat) and a foot diameter of 100 meters, this is the second largest man-made hill in England. Part of the castle was probably a large, wooden donjon on the Motte and a rectangular outer bailey fortification, about 105 meters by 95 meters, which extended away from the Motte and which used the former Iron Age fortress on one side. The new castle loomed over it and dominated the former Saxon city.

The earthworks of the castle were built from chalk found on site, the moats provided enough material for it. Local lore suggests that much of the earth was instead excavated from the nearby gallows pits in the city. The castle was built by hand, with workers digging with wooden shovels, possibly without picks . It is believed that the moth took about 24,000 man-days to build.

The Bigod family expanded their influence in the region, making use of their strong castles at Thetford, Framlingham , Bungay and Walton . Roger Bigod's son, Hugh Bigod , played a pivotal role in the Civil War Anarchy , in which he rebelled against King Stephen from his castles in East Anglia . Most likely a stone wall was built around the outer bailey at that time, and recent research suggests that a stone donjon was also built in the castle. At the end of the civil war, however, Henry II came to the throne of England and re-established royal power in this region. In 1157, Henry II confiscated the bigod's castles. He eventually returned Framlingham Castle and Bungay Castle to the family, but kept Thetford Castle for his own purposes. Hugh Bigod then joined the revolt of Henry's Sons and retook Thetford Castle, but in the course of 1173 Henry's forces recaptured the castle and demolished the fortifications. But the mound of earth proved to be effectively indestructible.

13th to 20th century

Thetford Castle floor plan from 1740 with the east wall destroyed in 1772

After the 12th century, Thetford Castle fell into disrepair and was soon abandoned. However, the castle courtyard is said to have been in use in 1558 and was surrounded by a new stone wall. In 1772 the eastern wall of the outer bailey was destroyed. In 1823 a group of elms was planted near the top of the mound.

Interest in the castle's origins revived; they were forgotten for a while. A local medieval rumor stated that the mound was created by the devil after he completed the earthworks at Narborough and Newmarket , but in Victorian times academics concluded that the mound must be of either Celtic or Norman origin, with students being the late Victorian period correctly assumed that the Norman variant was the more likely. Other legends said the mound covered a palace full of treasures or six bells from Thetford Priory . Archaeological investigations at Red Castle by G. Knocker in the years 1957-1958 as well as those in the early 1960s by RR Clarke and Barbara Green revealed the construction and data of the castle grounds.

21st century

Today the moth belongs to the local authorities and forms part of the castle park. The outer bailey is now called the "Military Parade". The entire area is considered a Scheduled Monument .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Dyer: Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520 . Yale University Press, London 2009. ISBN 978-0-300-10191-1 . P. 63. Accessed online on July 17, 2015.
  2. ^ Brian K. Davison: The Late Saxon Town of Thetford: An Interim Report on the 1964-5 Excavations in Medieval Archeology . Issue 11 (1967). P. 189. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  3. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). P. 43.
  4. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 98.
  5. ^ R. Allen Brown: Castles From the Air . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1989. ISBN 978-0-521-32932-3 . P. 213 online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  6. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). Pp. 42, 44.
  7. ^ R. Allen Brown: Castles From the Air . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1989. ISBN 978-0-521-32932-3 . Pp. 213-214. online , accessed July 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ Another theory, supported by archaeologists Paul Everson and Marcus Jecock, suggests that the castle was built in the mid-12th century as a result of anarchy .
  9. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 104.
  10. ↑ GM Knocker, GM (1966-9) Excavations at Red Castle, Thetford in Norfolk Archeology . No. 34 (1966-1969). Pp. 125-128, 139-141.
  11. ↑ Oliver Hamilton Creighton: Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England . Equinox, London 2005. ISBN 978-1-904768-67-8 . P. 123.
  12. ↑ a b David M. Wilson, D. Gillian Hurst: (1964) Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963 in Medieval Archeology . No. 8 (1964). P. 257.
  13. ↑ Earlier work assumed that the Red Castle was a moth with a heavily sunken center.
  14. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 100.
  15. ^ Adrian Pettifer: English Castles: a Guide by Counties . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5 . P. 163, online , accessed July 17, 2015.
  16. ^ A b Oliver Hamilton Creighton: Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England . Equinox, London 2005. ISBN 978-1-904768-67-8 . P. 43.
  17. ↑ The archaeologists Paul Everson and Marcus Jecock believe that William de Warenne or William the Conqueror had the castle built.
  18. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 103.
  19. ^ DJ Cathcart King: The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretative History . Routledge, London 1991. ISBN 0-415-00350-4 . Pp. 58-59.
  20. ^ A b c d Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 101.
  21. ^ A b Oliver Hamilton Creighton: Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England . Equinox, London 2005. ISBN 978-1-904768-67-8 . P. 151.
  22. ↑ a b c d Thetford Castle Hill . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  23. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 99.
  24. ↑ The largest man-made mound in England is Silbury Hill .
  25. ↑ Earlier archaeological studies assumed that the outer bailey itself was mostly a fortification from the Iron Age, but more recent studies cast doubt on this and said that only part of the outer bailey's enclosure came from the Iron Age, but most of it from the Middle Ages.
  26. ↑ Paul Everson, Marcus Jecock: Castle Hill and the Early Medieval Development of Thetford in Norfolk in Paul Pattison, David Field, Steward Ainsworth (Editor): Patterns of the Past: Essays in Landscape Archeology for Christopher Taylor . Oxbow Books, Oxford 1999. ISBN 1-900188-83-X . P. 106.
  27. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). P. 41.
  28. ^ Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a Social and Political History . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . P. 18. online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  29. ^ Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a Social and Political History . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . P. 19. online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  30. ^ Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a Social and Political History . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . S. 55. online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  31. ^ A b c R. Allen Brown: Castles From the Air . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1989. ISBN 978-0-521-32932-3 . S. 191. online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  32. ^ Adrian Pettifer: English Castles: a Guide by Counties . Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5 . P. 162. online , accessed July 17, 2015.
  33. ^ Norman John Greville Pounds: The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a Social and Political History . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3 . S. 32. online , accessed on July 17, 2015.
  34. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). P. 42.
  35. ^ A b Brian K. Davison: The Late Saxon Town of Thetford: An Interim Report on the 1964-5 Excavations in Medieval Archeology . Issue 11 (1967). S. 194. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  36. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). P. 40.
  37. ^ WG Clarke: Thetford Castle Hill in Norfolk Archeology . Issue 16 (1907). Pp. 41-42.
  38. ↑ Russell Ash: Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain . Reader's Digest. ISBN 9780340165973 . P. 246.

Web links

Commons : Thetford Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 40.3 "  N , 0 ° 45 ′ 16.9"  E