Old Buckenham Castle and Buckenham Castle are two castles adjacent respectively to the villages of

Old Buckenham Old Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,294 in 658 households at the 2001 census falling to a population of 1,270 livin ...

and

New Buckenham New Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The parish covers an area of and had a population of 468 in 197 households at the 2001 census, falling marginally to a population of 460 in 209 households at the 201 ...

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.

Old Buckenham Castle

All that remains today of what was a Norman castle are the remnants of the earthworks and some traces of a stone curtain wall. The castle was built by William d'Aubigny, a follower of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. After the castle was moved to the new site a priory ( Old Buckenham Priory) was established on the site thus destroying many of the earlier remains.

Buckenham Castle

In the early part of the reign of King Stephen a new castle was built two miles to the south east of the site of the old castle by the Aubigny family. Today we can still see the remaining foundations of a circular stone keep - this is approximately 60 feet in diameter. The castle was besieged during the Barons' War in 1263. In 1316 Buckenham Castle was inherited by Adam de Clifton (d.1366), son of Sir Roger de Clifton (d.1316) by his wife Margaret de Caily, heiress of Buckenham. (See

Baron Clifton Baron Clifton, of Leighton Bromswold in the County of Huntingdon, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1608 for Sir Gervase Clifton, who made Prebendal house which was built by John Thorpe and later owned by the Clifton baron ...

of Buckenham Castle). The last in the male line was Sir John Clifton (d.1447) whose sister and eventual heiress Elizabeth Clifton married Sir John Knyvett, and thus Buckenham Castle passed to her Knyvett descendants. The fortress was finally demolished in 1649 by Sir Philip Knyvett, 1st Baronet, leaving just the moat and the earth ramparts. The Knyvett family had moved here from their earlier seat at

Southwick, Northamptonshire Southwick (pronounced "Suth-ick") is a small village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is approximately north of the town of Oundle and is set in a valley of the River Nene. The village lies in the North Northamptonshire. Befo ...

. By 1465 Sir John Knyvet occupied the castle. That year his daughter, Christiana, married

Sir Henry Colet Sir Henry Colet (died 1505) was twice Lord Mayor of London. Life He was the third son of Robert Colet of Wendover, Buckinghamshire. He came to London in youth; he was apprenticed to a mercer, and soon became one of the wealthiest members of the ...

, later

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. Anne F. Sutton, ‘Colet, Sir Henry (c.1430–1505)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004 The castle comprised an inner bailey and two outer baileys, all with earth walls. The circular keep is thought to be the earliest in England. Its walls are 11 feet thick at their base and it is thought that the height of the keep in its heyday could have been as much as 40 feet. To service the castle and garrison, the planned settlement of New Buckenham was established and today the village covers much the same area and grid layout as original. Despite being adjacent to the village of New Buckenham, the ruins of the castle, the earthworks, the St Mary's chapel/barn and most of the surrounding meadows/scheduled land are in the parish of Old Buckenham. This site is a Grade I Listed building and 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 ...

. The castle is private property and access can be sought at the village shop on King Street in New Buckenham.

References

*Remfry, P.M., ''Buckenham Castles, 1066 to 1649'' () {{Authority control Castles in Norfolk Scheduled monuments in Norfolk Ruins in Norfolk Knyvet family Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk

Old Buckenham Castle

Buckenham Castle

See also

References