| Great Ashfield Castle | |
|---|---|
| Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England | |
 Overgrown remains of Great Ashfield Castle | |
  Great Ashfield Castle | |
| Coordinates | 52°16′11″N0°55′01″E / 52.2696°N 0.9169°E |
| Grid reference | grid reference TL991675 |
| Type | Motte and bailey |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Earthworks remain |
Great Ashfield Castle, also known locally as Castle Hill, is a medieval motte and bailey castle near the village of Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England.
Great Ashfield Castle is a Norman motte and bailey castle near the village of Great Ashfield in Suffolk. [1] the motte is 130 feet in diameter at the base and 24 feet high. [1] The motte is surrounded by a fosse, 18 feet wide and 7 feet wide, which some investigations have suggested is a later edition to the castle. [1] [2]
Today the castle is a scheduled monument.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Wing, known in antiquated times as Wyng, is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard. It is about 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Aylesbury, 3 miles (5 km) west of Leighton Buzzard, and 12 miles (19 km) south of Milton Keynes.
Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and the castle played an important role in the conflict of the Anarchy. In the 14th century the military value of the castle diminished and the site became used primarily for county administration and as a prison. The surviving rectangular St George's Tower is now believed to pre-date the remainder of the castle and be a watch tower associated with the original Saxon west gate of the city.
Barnwell Castle is a ruined castle, south of the town of Oundle, and north of the village of Barnwell, Northamptonshire. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is under private ownership.
Pirton is a large village and civil parish three miles northwest of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,274.
Clare Castle is a high-mounted ruinous medieval castle in the parish and former manor of Clare in Suffolk, England, anciently the caput of a feudal barony. It was built shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 by Richard Fitz Gilbert, having high motte and bailey and later improved in stone. In the 14th century it was the seat of Elizabeth de Clare, one of the wealthiest women in England, who maintained a substantial household there. The castle passed into the hands of the Crown and by 1600 was disused. The ruins are an unusually tall earthen motte surmounted by tall remnants of a wall and of the round tower, with large grassland or near-rubble gaps on several of their sides. It was damaged by an alternate line of the Great Eastern Railway in 1867, the rails of which have been removed.
Aslockton Castle is a ruined fortification, a motte-and-bailey castle, in the village of Aslockton, Nottinghamshire. The original name of the settlement was Aslachetone, which suggests a possible Norse origin; it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was described as a large settlement.
Eaton Socon Castle was a Norman fortification. It was constructed next to the River Great Ouse in what is now Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire, England.
Eye Castle is a motte and bailey medieval castle with a prominent Victorian addition in the town of Eye, Suffolk. Built shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the castle was sacked and largely destroyed in 1265. Sir Edward Kerrison built a stone house on the motte in 1844: the house later decayed into ruin, becoming known as Kerrison's Folly in subsequent years.
Haughley Castle was a medieval castle situated in the village of Haughley, some 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Prominent historians such as J. Wall consider it "the most perfect earthwork of this type in the county," whilst R. Allen Brown has described it as "one of the most important" castle sites in East Anglia.
Horsford Castle is situated in the village of Horsford, 6 miles to the north of the city of Norwich.
Great Ashfield is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, about 9 miles (14 km) east of Bury St Edmunds.
Castle Camps was a Norman Castle located in what is now the civil parish of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire.
Milden Castle was a motte-and-bailey castle on Foxburrow hill in Milden, a village in Suffolk, England.
Pilsbury Castle was a Norman castle in Derbyshire near the present-day village of Pilsbury, overlooking the River Dove.
While there are many castles in South Yorkshire, the majority are manor houses and motte-and-bailey which were commonly found in England after the Norman Conquest.
Stowey Castle was a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, built in the 11th century, in the village of Nether Stowey on the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Monument, the foundations of the keep are also a Grade I listed building.
Lidgate is a small village and a civil parish in the West Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. Lidgate is located on the B1063 road in between the towns of Newmarket and Clare. The population of Lidgate is around 250, measured at 241 in the 2011 Census.
Denham Castle, also known as Castle Holes, is a medieval motte and bailey castle near the village of Gazeley, Suffolk, England. The castle was also known as Desning Castle at the time of building and occupation.
Lidgate Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in the village of Lidgate, Suffolk, England, built to an unusual quadrangular design.