Mettingham Castle
Encyclopedia
Mettingham Castle was a fortified manor house
in the village of Mettingham
, Suffolk
, England.
style gatehouse formed the entrance to the castle and supplemented a stone wall that surrounded the property. By 1562, there were "stables, servants' lodgings, kitchen, bakehouse, brewhouse, malting house, storehouses, and an aisled hall" within the castle walls.
The castle remained in Sir John's family until 1394, when it was given to a college of secular canons from nearby Norton
, who established themselves on the small moated court within the castle. The monks taught up to 13 boys at the castle. After the dissolution of the monasteries
the property was sold off to a sequence of private owners after 1542. The castle was largely demolished in the 18th century to make way for a new farm house on the site, which lasted until around 1880 when it was pulled down in turn; the house rebuilt on the site reused parts of the original medieval stonework.
Today the site is a scheduled monument and a grade 2 listed building; the gatehouse still survives, as do some of the stone walls and many of the surrounding moats and earthworks. In the 21st century a major renovation project occurred at the castle to repair the worsening damage, involving a grant of £330,000 by English Heritage
.
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
in the village of Mettingham
Mettingham
Mettingham is a village in Suffolk, England, close to the border with Norfolk.Its church, All Saints, is one of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk, UK....
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England.
Details
Mettingham Castle was formed by Sir John de Norwich, who was given a license to crenellate his existing manor house on the site in 1342. The first house stood within a small moat, up to 15 foot wide with 6 foot high banks; upon receiving permission to crenellate, however, another court was built to the north of this, again moated, with a gateway to the north. Another moated court was later built to the south. An EdwardianEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
style gatehouse formed the entrance to the castle and supplemented a stone wall that surrounded the property. By 1562, there were "stables, servants' lodgings, kitchen, bakehouse, brewhouse, malting house, storehouses, and an aisled hall" within the castle walls.
The castle remained in Sir John's family until 1394, when it was given to a college of secular canons from nearby Norton
Norton, Suffolk
Norton is a small village in Suffolk, England. The nearest town is Bury St. Edmunds.It has 1 Greene King Pub - "The Dog" which is more of a restaurant than a daily boozer....
, who established themselves on the small moated court within the castle. The monks taught up to 13 boys at the castle. After the dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
the property was sold off to a sequence of private owners after 1542. The castle was largely demolished in the 18th century to make way for a new farm house on the site, which lasted until around 1880 when it was pulled down in turn; the house rebuilt on the site reused parts of the original medieval stonework.
Today the site is a scheduled monument and a grade 2 listed building; the gatehouse still survives, as do some of the stone walls and many of the surrounding moats and earthworks. In the 21st century a major renovation project occurred at the castle to repair the worsening damage, involving a grant of £330,000 by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.