Middleton Mount, also called Middleton Motte and Middleton Castle, is the remains of a medieval
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
situated in the village of
Middleton, in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Details
Middleton Mount was a
motte and bailey
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 (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
castle built during the Norman period. The motte is 49 m in diameter, protected by an 11 m wide ditch.
NHER Number: 3394
', Norfolk Heritage Explorer, Norfolk County Council, accessed 8 September 2011. The castle's crescent-shaped bailey and three rectangular enclosures of uncertain medieval date lay alongside the motte.
[ The castle was built by the Normans on a pre-existing ]Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
estate centre, a common practice after the Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
.[Creighton, pp.70-1; ]
NHER Number: 3394
', Norfolk Heritage Explorer, Norfolk County Council, accessed 8 September 2011.
The site was excavated in 1987 before the development of much of the surrounding land, including the enclosures, for local housing.[ The castle was bought by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust in 2006 and is a ]scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
Middleton Mount
', Norfolk Archaeological Trust, accessed 8 September 2011.
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 10 ...
*List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a li ...
Bibliography
*Creighton, Oliver Hamilton. (2005)
Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England.
' London: Equinox. .
*Pettifer, Adrian. (2002)
English Castles: a Guide by Counties
'' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. .
Further reading
*Ashwin, Trevor M. (2001
"Middleton Mount - Excavations in and around the Eastern Bailey of Middleton Castle,"
''Norfolk Archaeology'' Vol. 43 (4) pp. 645–56.
References
Castles in Norfolk
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