Castle Hill, Thetford
Encyclopedia
Castle Hill is the site of a fortified earthwork in the town of Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...

, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, in the United Kingdom. Located to the southeast of the town centre, it has been a fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

 since the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

. The last people to develop it were the Normans, and it has remained the highest Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 motte
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 in England, though no trace remains of the timber castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 which was built at the top of the motte in the Middle Ages.

Description

The site consists of a large, man-made hill approximately 25 metres (82 ft) high, which is the main motte. This is surrounded by a defensive ditch around 4 metres (13.1 ft) deep. The north side of the motte has a large rampart
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

 rising around 8 metres (26.2 ft) above the lowest point of the ditch, with a secondary defensive ditch and rampart a few metres farther to the north. The bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 (courtyard) lies to the east of the motte and is around 50 metres (164 ft) across at its widest point. To the north of this bailey is a 4-metre-high rampart which is now home to several large oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...

 and sycamore
Sycamore Maple
Acer pseudoplatanus, the sycamore maple, is a species of maple native to central Europe and southwestern Asia, from France east to Ukraine, and south in mountains to northern Spain, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus. It is not related to other trees called sycamore or plane tree in the Platanus...

 trees.

Iron Age fortification

The entire site—the motte, bailey and ramparts—is made from earth and chalk and flint rubble, presumably dug very locally. It is one of Britain's largest man-made Iron Age defensive structures, though there is no record of how large or extensive the site was during its early years. Excavations have suggested that the ramparts may have continued along the east, south and west perimeters, though there is almost nothing left of any of these earthworks now.
It is suggested that the site was initially used to defend and control the crossing points of the rivers Thet
River Thet
The River Thet is a river in Norfolk, England and is a tributary of the River Little Ouse.It rises in The Fens around Rockland All Saints and joins the Little Ouse in Thetford....

 and Little Ouse to the south, which were lucrative trading routes intersecting the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...

 close to the site now known as Three Nuns Bridges, another local historical site. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...

makes reference to a "great army of Danes" which may have been camped at the site in approximately 869.

Medieval use

The Normans extended the site and further developed it by building a timber keep on the top. This may have been constructed by Ralph de Guader
Ralph de Guader
Ralph de Gael was the Earl of East Anglia and Lord of Gaël and Montfort...

, Earl of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

, or by Roger Bigod
Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Roger Bigod was a Norman knight who came to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were Earl of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness to the Charter of Liberties of Henry I of England.-Biography:Roger came...

, his successor. King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 had most of its defences dismantled in 1173, after a rebellion with which the local baron was involved.

Today

The south perimeter of Castle Hill is the location of some of the oldest buildings in Thetford, sited on Ford Street, which runs east-west along the southern edge of the site.

The hill has not been extensively surveyed or excavated in recent years and still provides a basis for many local myths and stories—one being that a set of silver bells, possibly from the town priory, are buried in the site somewhere; though this is highly unlikely, as the site has been excavated in the past and nothing found.

The site is open to the public and is now known as Castle Park. The northeast corner includes several benches and a fenced-off play area for children. The large open area in the northeast corner is a popular picnic site and informal sports playing area and is also used as a venue for many local events, including the Storm event, some smaller concerts and re-enactment events. The motte provides excellent views of the town from its summit and extensive earthworks. The whole site is a scheduled monument and as such is protected from unpermitted excavation or exploration.

External links

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