Weeting Castle is a ruined, medieval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

near the village of Weeting 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. It was built around 1180 by Hugh de Plais, and comprised a three-storey tower, a substantial

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

, and a service block, with a separate kitchen positioned near the house. A

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

was later dug around the site in the 13th century. The house was not fortified, although it drew on architectural features typically found in

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 ...

s of the period, and instead formed a very large, high-status domestic dwelling. It was probably intended to resemble the hall at

Castle Acre Castle Castle Acre Castle and town walls are a set of ruined medieval defences built in the village of Castle Acre, Norfolk. The castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, at the intersection of the R ...

, owned by Hugh's

feudal lord An overlord in the Kingdom of England, English Feudalism in England, feudal system was a lord of the manor, lord of a manor who had Subinfeudation, subinfeudated a particular Manorialism, manor, Estate in land, estate or fief, fee, to a Leaseho ...

, Hamelin de Warenne. Weeting Castle ceased to be used in the late 14th century and fell into decay. The ruins formed an ornamental feature in the grounds of nearby Weeting Hall from 1770 onwards, and passed into the ownership of the state in 1926 when the government acquired the surrounding estate. The site is now managed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and open to visitors.

10th–13th centuries

Weeting Castle is located around north of the village of Weeting in

, England. There was an earlier

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- ...

settlement at the site in the 10th century, but the castle itself was built around 1180 by Hugh de Plais. Hugh acquired the estate following his marriage to Philippa Montfichet, where he then constructed a very large, stone

. The new building was probably intended to resemble the

at the centre of

, then being redeveloped by Hugh's feudal lord, Hamelin de Warenne, the

Earl of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, William de Warenne, a close Companions of William the Conqueror, companion of William the Con ...

. Hugh's manor house was around across and comprised three sections running south to north: a chamber block, the main hall, and a service wing. The chamber block, or tower, was three storeys tall, with thick walls made from

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

rubble and

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. The ground floor formed an undercroft, supporting a

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

— a set of private chambers — above. The chamber block would have been entered by an external staircase at the first floor, and an internal

newel A newel, also called a central pole or support column, is the central supporting pillar of a staircase. It can also refer to an upright post that supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister (the "newel post"). In stairs having str ...

staircase in the north-west corner linked the different floors. Although not fortified, the tower drew on the architectural traditions of earlier castle

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

s and great towers. The two-storey tall hall was in size internally, with two wooden arcades running down each side, forming narrow aisles along which benches would have run. A raised

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

at the northern end, framed by blind stone arcading, would have supported the great table, with similar arcading facing it at the opposite end of the hall. The hall was probably linked by doors to the service block to the north, which was internally in size and contained a pantry and a buttery. A separate kitchen building stood beyond the service block, positioned across a small, enclosed courtyard to reduce the fire risk to the main building. A wide

was dug around the site in the mid-13th century, creating an island approximately across internally, accessed by a bridge to the west. The moat was not intended to actually defend the site, but would have aesthetically framed the view of the house within it for anyone approaching the property, highlighting the wealth of its owners.

14th–21st centuries

The male line of the Plais family died out in the late 14th century, and Weeting Castle passed to Sir

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

, the Earl of Norfolk, through his marriage to Margaret Plais. The manor house was left to fall into ruin, until in 1770 it became an ornamental feature in the grounds of the nearby Weeting Hall, a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

rebuilt by

Charles Henry Coote Charles Henry Coote (1840–1899) was a librarian at the British Museum. He obtained during his long service of 41 years in the Museum such an intimate acquaintance with the details of old maps that he became of the first authorities on the subject ...

, the

Earl of Mountrath There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Coote family. The first is Coote of Castle Cuffe, while the second is Coote of Donnybrooke, both in the Baronetage of Ireland. As of 2020, the first creation is still extant. The ho ...

. In 1926, the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

purchased Weeting Hall for use as a residential work camp, and acquired Weeting Castle as part of the estate. As part of their instruction, the trainees were deployed to clear the castle of undergrowth. Weeting Hall was demolished in 1954, but its ice house still survives on the island, comprising a brick and earthen mound, around across, which was originally used to store ice harvested from the moat.

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s were undertaken at the site between 1964 and 1966 by the Ministry of Public Works, and the remaining stonework was consolidated. Some of the rubble core of the chamber block and the hall survive today, along with fragments of the ashlar stone; parts of the service block's foundations have also survived, but nothing remains of the kitchen above ground. The moat still partially floods in winter, and the site is now accessed by an earth

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

in the north-west corner, possibly dating to the creation of the nearby hall in the 18th century. The castle is managed by

and is open to visitors. The historians Brian Cushion and Alan Davison consider the castle's design to form "a very fine example of an early medieval house", and the heritage agency Historic England notes that the site is "a rare surviving example of a high status 12th century manor house"; it is protected under UK law as 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 ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links