More information : (TM 0717 9257) Castle (NR) (Site of). (1)
Old Buckenham Castle, Rectangular earthwork of uncertain date. The shape is more Roman than later but there is no other reason to assume a Roman date. On the other hand nothing certainly survives, that can be connected with a bailey. The castle erected by the Normans inside this fortification was given by William de Albini in 1146 to the Augustinian Canons to build a priory (TM 09 SE 3) out of its materials. Classified by Renn as an angular motte within an oval to quadrangular bailey. (2-3)
The earthworks of the castle comprise a substantial rectangular waterfilled moat, recently cleaned and re-cut, with a raised platform at the NE end of the island. Adjacent are other ditches which presumably bounded the monastic site (TM 09 SE 3) but which may have earlier formed an integral part of the castle defences. See 25" resurvey. (4) |