Framlingham Castle is a castle in the market town of
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.
Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book and was part of Loes Hundred. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 census and an estimated 4,016 in 20 ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, England. An early
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, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...
or
ringwork
A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the site ...
Norman castle was built on the Framlingham site by 1148, but this was destroyed (
slighted) by
Henry II of England
Henry II () was King of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...
in the aftermath of the
Revolt of 1173–1174
The Revolt of 1173–1174 (sometimes referred to as the Great Revolt) was a rebellion against King Henry II of England by three of his sons, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their rebel supporters. The revolt ended in failure after eighteen ...
. Its replacement, constructed by
Roger Bigod, the
Earl of Norfolk
Earl of Norfolk is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. Created in 1070, the first major dynasty to hold the title was the 12th and 13th century Bigod family, and it then was later held by the Mowbrays, who we ...
, was unusual for the time in having no central
keep
A keep 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 castles that were fortified residen ...
, but instead using a
curtain wall with thirteen mural towers to defend the centre of the castle. Despite this, the castle was successfully taken by King
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
in 1216 after a short siege. By the end of the 13th century, Framlingham had become a luxurious home, surrounded by extensive
parkland used for hunting.
During the 15th and 16th centuries Framlingham was at the heart of the estates of the powerful
Mowbray and
Howard
Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...
families. Two artificial
meres were built around the castle, which was expanded in fashionable brick. With a large, wealthy household to maintain, the castle purchased supplies from across England and brought in luxury goods from international markets. Extensive pleasure gardens were built within the castle and older parts redesigned to allow visitors to enjoy the resulting views. By the end of the 16th century, however, the castle fell into disrepair and after the final Howard owner,
Theophilus
Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (''theós'', "God") and φιλία (''philía'', "love or affection") can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend ...
, entered into financial difficulties the castle and the surrounding estates were sold off.
In 1636, Framlingham Castle was given to
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
, as a philanthropic gesture, and remained in its ownership for some three hundred years. In the 17th century, the internal buildings were taken down to make way for the construction of a
poor law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
workhouse
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
within the castle; it was used in this way until 1839, when the facility was closed; the castle was then used as a
drill hall and as a
county court. In 1913, Pembroke College placed Framlingham into the guardianship of the
Commissioner of Works. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Framlingham Castle was used by the British Army as part of the regional defences against a potential German invasion. Today, the Castle is 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and run as a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
. It is protected under British law as a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
and 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, visu ...
.
History
11th–12th centuries
The population of
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.
Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book and was part of Loes Hundred. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 census and an estimated 4,016 in 20 ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
rose sharply after the
Norman Conquest
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, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
of England in 1066, as the village turned into a small town of at least 600 inhabitants, surrounded by valuable lands in one of the most prosperous parts of the country. The region was owned by the powerful
Hugh d'Avranches
Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.
Early life and career
Hugh d'Avra ...
, the
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester () was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, ...
, who granted it in turn to
Roger Bigod, the
Sheriff of Suffolk. A
ringwork
A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the site ...
or
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, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...
castle was first built in either the 11th or early 12th century in the northern half of the Inner Court of the current castle.
Although the first documentary reference to a castle at Framlingham occurs in 1148, the actual date of its construction is uncertain and three possible options have been suggested by academics. The first possibility is that the castle was built by Roger Bigod in either the late 11th century or around 1100, similar to the founding of Bigod's
caput at nearby
Eye
An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system.
In higher organisms, the ey ...
. A second possibility is that Roger's son,
Hugh Bigod, built it during the years of
the Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adel ...
in the 1140s on the site of an existing
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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
; the castle would then be similar to the Bigod fortification at
Bungay. A third possibility is that there were in fact two castles: the first being built in the late 11th century and then demolished by Hugh Bigod in the 1160s in order to make way for a newer, larger castle. Historian Magnus Alexander hypothesizes the castle might have been built on top of a set of pre-existing
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
, high prestige buildings, a practice common elsewhere in East Anglia, possibly echoing the arrangement at
Castle Acre; this would be most likely if the castle was built in the 11th century.

By the late 12th century the Bigod family had come to dominate Suffolk, holding the title of the
Earl of Norfolk
Earl of Norfolk is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. Created in 1070, the first major dynasty to hold the title was the 12th and 13th century Bigod family, and it then was later held by the Mowbrays, who we ...
and owning Framlingham and three other major castles at Bungay,
Walton and
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...
. The first set of stone buildings, including the first hall, were built within the castle during the 1160s. Tensions persisted throughout the period, however, between the Crown and the Bigods. Hugh Bigod was one of a group of dissenting barons during the Anarchy in the reign of King
Stephen
Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
, and after coming to power
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
attempted to re-establish royal influence across the region. As part of this effort, Henry confiscated the four Bigod castles from Hugh in 1157, but returned both Framlingham and Bungay in 1165, on payment of a large fine of £666.
Hugh then joined
the revolt by Henry's sons in 1173. The attempt to overthrow Henry was unsuccessful, and in punishment the King ordered several Bigod castles, including Framlingham, to be destroyed (
slighted). The King's engineer, Alnoth, destroyed the fortifications and filled in the moat at Framlingham between 1174 and 1176 at a total cost of £16 11s 12d, although he probably shored up, rather than destroyed, the internal stone buildings. It was one of at least twenty castles belonging to the rebels to be slighted in the aftermath of the war.
Hugh's son,
Roger Bigod, was out of favour with Henry, who initially denied him the family earldom and estates such as Framlingham.
[Brown (2002), cited Alexander, p.20.] Roger finally regained royal favour when
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
succeeded to the throne in 1189.
[ Roger then set about building a new castle on the Framlingham site – the work was conducted relatively quickly and the castle was certainly complete by 1213. The new castle comprised the Inner Court, defended with 13 mural towers; an adjacent Lower Court with smaller stone walls and towers, and a larger Bailey with timber defences. By this time, a ]castle-guard
Castle-guard was an arrangement under the feudal system, by which the duty of finding knights to guard royal castles was imposed on certain manors, knight's fees or baronies. The greater barons provided for the guard of their castles by exacti ...
system was in place at Framlingham, in which lands were granted to local lords in return for their providing knights or soldiers to guard the castle.
13th century
The First Barons' War
The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as English feudal barony, barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against John of England, K ...
began in 1215 between King John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
and a faction of rebel barons opposed to his rule. Roger Bigod became one of the key opponents to John, having argued over John's requirements for military levies. Royal troops plundered the surrounding lands and John's army arrived on 12 March 1216, followed by John the next day. With John's permission, messages were sent on the 14th from the castle to Roger, who, influenced by the fate of Rochester Castle the previous year, agreed that the garrison of 26 knights, 20 sergeants, 7 crossbowmen and a priest could surrender without a fight. John's forces moved on into Essex, and Roger appears to have later regained his castle, and his grandson, another Roger
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
, inherited Framlingham in 1225.
A large park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
, called the Great Park, was created around the castle; this park is first noted in 1270, although it may have been constructed somewhat earlier. The Great Park enclosed stretching to the north of the castle, and was characterised by possessing bank-and-ditch boundaries, common elsewhere in England but very unusual in Suffolk. The park had a lodge built in it, which later had a recreational garden built around it.[Taylor, p.40.] Like other parks of the period, the Great Park was not just used for hunting but was exploited for its wider resources: there are records of charcoal-burning being conducted in the park in 1385, for example. Four other smaller parks were also located near the castle, extending the potential for hunting across a long east–west belt of emparked land.
In 1270 Roger Bigod, the 5th Earl, inherited the castle and undertook extensive renovations there whilst living in considerable luxury and style. Although still extremely wealthy, the Bigods were now having to borrow increasing sums from first the Jewish community at Bungay and then, after the expulsion of the Jews, Italian merchants; by the end of the century, Roger was heavily in debt to Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
as well.[Ridgard, p.4.] As a result, Roger led the baronial opposition to Edward's request for additional taxes and support for his French wars.[ Edward responded by seizing Roger's lands and only releasing them on the condition that Roger granted them to the Crown after his death.][ Roger agreed and Framlingham Castle passed to the Crown on his death in 1306.][
By the end of the 13th century a large prison had been built in the castle; this was probably constructed in the north-west corner of the Lower Court, overlooked by the Prison Tower.][Stacey, p.11.] The prisoners kept there in the medieval period included local poachers and, in the 15th century, religious dissidents, including Lollard
Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
supporters.[
]
14th century
Edward II gave the castle to his half-brother, Thomas of Brotherton, the Earl of Norfolk.[ Records show that Framlingham was only partially furnished around this time, although it is unclear if this was because it was in limited use, or because fittings and furnishings were moved from castle to castle with the owner as he traveled, or if the castle was simply being refurnished. The castle complex continued to thrive, however, on Thomas' death in 1338, the castle passed first to his widow, Mary de Brewes, and then in 1362, into the Ufford family.][ ]William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk
William Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (30 May 1338 – 15 February 1382) was an Kingdom of England, English Nobility, nobleman in the reigns of Edward III of England, Edward III and Richard II of England, Richard II. He was the son of Robert Uffo ...
held the castle during the Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
of 1381, with much of the revolt occurring close to Framlingham.[Ridgard, p.5.] From the Uffords, the castle passed first to Margaret of Brotherton, the self-styled "Countess-Marshall", and then to Thomas de Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
. The Mowbrays seem to have used Framlingham Castle as their main seat of power for most of the 15th century.[
With as many as 83 people living in the castle at any one time, the castle played a major role in the surrounding economy during the period. Large amounts of food and drink were purchased to support the household – over twelve months in 1385–6, for example, over £1,000 was spent, including the purchase of of ]ale
Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
and 70,321 loaves of bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
.[Alexander, p.21.] By the 14th century the castle was purchasing goods from across western Europe, with wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
being imported from France, venison
Venison refers primarily to the meat of deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, including the internal organs. Venison, much like beef or pork, is categorized into spe ...
from parks as far away as Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
and spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
s from the Far East
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
through London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based merchants.[Alexander, p.22.] The castle purchased some goods, such as salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
, through the annual Stourbridge Fair at nearby Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, then one of the biggest economic events in Europe.[ Some of this expenditure was supported by the ]demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
manor attached to the castle, which comprised of land and 5,000 days of serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...
labour under feudal law. A vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
was created at the castle in the late 12th century, and a bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
and a horse mill
A horse mill is a mill, sometimes used in conjunction with a watermill or windmill, that uses a horse engine as the power source. Any milling process can be powered in this way, but the most frequent use of animal power in horse mills was for gri ...
were built in the castle by the 14th century. Surrounding manors also fed in resources to the castle; in twelve months between 1275 and 1276, £434 was received by the castle from the wider region.[
Two large lakes, called meres, were formed alongside the castle by damming a local stream.] The southern mere, still visible today, had its origins in a smaller, natural lake; once dammed, it covered and had an island with a dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
built on it. The meres were used for fishing as well as for boating, and would have had extensive aesthetic appeal. It is uncertain exactly when the meres were first built.[Alexander, p.29.] One theory suggests that the meres were built in the early 13th century, although there is no documentary record of them at least until the 1380s. Another theory is that they were formed in the first half of the 14th century, at around the same time as the Lower Court was constructed.[ A third possibility is that it was the Howard family who introduced the meres in the late 15th century as part of their modernisation of the castle.][Johnson, p.45.]
15th–16th centuries
In 1476 the castle passed to 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. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
, the Duke of Norfolk, who probably began the sequence of improvements to the castle during the Tudor period
In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...
.[ Under the Howards the castle was extensively modernised; fashionable ]brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
was used to improve parts of the castle; ornamental chimneys were added; the battlements were reduced in size to exaggerate the apparent height of the walls, and the Howard coat of arms was added to the gatehouse.[ The Great Chamber was probably built across the Inner Court at this time, linking the Great Hall with the ]chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
and chambers on the east side of the castle, and by 1524 there were at least 29 different rooms in the castle. Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (144321 May 1524), styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1485 and again from 1489 to 1514, was an English people, English nobleman, soldier and statesman who served four monarchs. He was the eldest son of John ...
commissioned a hanging or tapestry depicting Hercules for the Great Chamber.
The drawbridge outside the gatehouse was replaced with the current permanent bridge between 1524 and 1547; by this time a half-moon defensive structure had been built in stone to defend it. A pleasure garden had been built in the Lower Court by the 16th century, with several ornamental ponds and terraced walkways – the garden would probably have also had fruit trees, herb gardens and fountains. Another pleasure garden was built in the Bailey, and a second bridge built across the moat to allow access to it directly from the Inner Court. The Prison Tower was redesigned to become a viewing gallery for the new formal gardens below.[
The ]Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
during the 15th century saw prolonged fighting between the Yorkists and Lancastrians for the control of the English throne. John Howard, a Yorkist supporter, was killed at Bosworth Field in 1485 and in the aftermath his son Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, the 2nd Duke, was attainted, forfeiting his and his heirs' rights to his properties and titles, and placed in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
.[Ridgard, p.6.] The Lancastrian victor at Bosworth, Henry VII, granted Framlingham Castle to John de Vere, but Thomas finally regained the favour of Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
after fighting at the victory of Flodden in 1513.[ Framlingham was returned to Thomas and the Duke spent his retirement there; he decorated his table at the castle with gold and silver plate that he had seized from the Scots at Flodden.][ The castle was expensively decorated in a lavish style during this period, including ]tapestries
Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...
, velvet and silver chapel fittings and luxury bedlinen
Bedding, also called bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environmen ...
. A hundred suits of armour were stored in the castle and over thirty horses kept in the stables.
The 3rd Duke of Norfolk, also called Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, made far less use of the castle, using first Stoke-by-Nayland and then Kenninghall
Kenninghall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Kenninghall is located north-west of Diss and south-west of Norwich.
History
Kenninghall's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the ...
as his principal residence.[ Thomas was attainted in 1547 out of fears, misplaced but promoted by his rivals led by Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, that the Howards aspired to the throne; Henry VIII died the day before Thomas was due to be executed at the Tower, and his successor, Mary's half-brother ]Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...
kept him in the Tower, giving Framlingham to Mary. When Mary contested for the throne against Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...
in 1553, she collected her forces at Framlingham Castle before successfully marching on London.[Ridgard, p.7.] Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine,
historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...
, was proclaimed the Queen of England here on 19 July 1553. Thomas was released from the Tower by Mary as a reward for his loyalty, but retired to Kenninghall rather than Framlingham. The castle was leased out but when the 4th Duke, another Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, was executed for treason by Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
in 1572 the castle passed back to the Crown.
Repairs to the castle appear to have been minimal from the 1540s onwards, and after Mary left Framlingham the castle went into a fast decline. A survey in 1589 noted that the stonework, timber and brickwork all needed urgent maintenance, at a potential cost of £100.[ The Great Park was disparked and turned into fields in 1580. As religious laws against Catholics increased, the castle became used as a prison from 1580 onwards; by 1600 the castle prison contained 40 prisoners, ]Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priests and recusants
Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...
.
17th–21st centuries
In 1613 James I returned the castle to Thomas Howard, the Earl of Suffolk, but the castle was now derelict and he chose to live at Audley End House
Audley End House is a largely early 17th-century country house outside Saffron Walden, Essex, England. It is a prodigy house, known as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England.
Audley End is now one-third of its original size, but is st ...
instead. Thomas's son, Theophilus Howard, fell heavily into debt and sold the castle, the estate and the former Great Park to Sir Robert Hitcham in 1635 for £14,000; as with several other established parks, such as Eye, Kelsale and Hundon, the Great Park was broken up and turned into separate estates. Hitcham died the following year, leaving the castle and the manor to Pembroke College in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, with the proviso that the college destroy the internal castle buildings and construct a workhouse
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
on the site instead, operating under the terms of the recently passed Poor Law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
.
After the collapse of the power of the Howards, the county of Suffolk was controlled by an oligarchy of Protestant gentry
Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...
by the 17th century and did not play a prominent part in the English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
that occurred between 1642 and 1646. Framlingham Castle escaped the slighting
Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative, or social structures. This destruction of property is sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It ...
that occurred to many other English castles around this time. Hitcham's bequest had meanwhile become entangled in the law courts and work did not begin on the workhouse until the late 1650s, by which time the internal buildings of castle were being broken up for the value of their stone; the chapel had been destroyed in this way by 1657.
The workhouse at Framlingham, the Red House, was finally built in the Inner Court and the poor would work there so they were eligible for relief; it proved unsatisfactory and, following the mismanagement of the workhouse funds, the Red House was closed and used as a public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
instead.[Stacey, p.38.] The maintenance of the meres ceased around this time and much of the area returned to meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
. In 1699 another attempt was made to open a poorhouse on the site, resulting in the destruction of the Great Chamber around 1700. This poorhouse failed too, and in 1729 a third attempt was made – the Great Hall was pulled down and the current poorhouse built on its site instead.[ Opposition to the Poor Law grew, and in 1834 the law was changed to reform the system; the poorhouse on the castle site was closed by 1839, the inhabitants being moved to the ]workhouse
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
at Wickham Market.[
The castle continued to fulfil several other local functions. During the outbreak of plague in 1666, the castle was used as an ]isolation ward
In hospitals and other medical facilities, an isolation ward is a separate ward used to isolate patients with infectious diseases. Several wards for individual patients are usually placed together in an isolation unit.
Design
In an isolation u ...
for infected patients, and during the Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
the castle was used to hold the equipment and stores of the local Framlingham Volunteer regiment. Following the closure of the poorhouse, the castle was then used as a drill
A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...
hall and as a county court, as well as containing the local parish jail
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...
and stocks
Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
.
In 1913 the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act was passed by Parliament and Pembroke College took the opportunity to place Framlingham into the guardianship of the Commissioner of Works. The undulating Inner Court was levelled up to its present form as part of the Commissioner's maintenance works. During the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Framlingham was an important defensive location for British forces; at least one concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
pill box was built near to the castle as part of the plans to counter any German invasion, and Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...
s were erected and a lorry park created in the Bailey.
Today, Framlingham Castle 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, visu ...
and a grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and run as a tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
, incorporating the Lanman Museum of local history
Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural history, cultural and social history, social aspects of history. Local history is not mer ...
. The castle mere is owned by Framlingham College
Framlingham College is a public school ( boarding and day school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 years of age ...
and run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
Architecture
Design
Framlingham Castle is located on a bluff overlooking the River Ore, and today is made up of three distinct parts, the Inner Court, the Bailey and the Lower Court, surrounded by the remaining mere and farmland.
The Bailey lies to the south of the walled Inner Court and was originally topped by a wooden palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymo ...
and earthworks, of which only the latter survive. The Bailey would have entered from an eastern gate and contained a range of buildings, probably including a Sergeant's Chamber, a Knights' Chamber, the Great Stable, barns and a granary. Modern visitors to the castle enter the complex through the Bailey from the south, which also contains the modern car park for the castle.
The Inner Court, or the Castle, lies beyond the Bailey across the 15th-century bridge that replaced the earlier drawbridge on the site. The gate tower that forms the entrance is a relatively simple design from the 12th century: the fashion for much grander gatehouse designs began shortly afterwards. The 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
, Thomas Howard, however, had it remodelled in the 16th century, adding his coat of arms and additional ornamentation to the walls. The Inner Court is formed around a stone curtain wall of local 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. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
and septaria stone, high and thick, protected by thirteen square mural towers with open backs, each around high, with corners made of sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. A wall-walk runs around the top of the towers and wall.
Originally various buildings were built around the curtain wall. Moving clockwise from the entrance to the Inner Court, the shape of the 12th-century castle chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
can still be made out on the curtain wall. Convention at the time required a chapel to point along a north-east/south-east axis; in order to achieve this, the chapel had to extend out considerably into the bailey, similar to the design at White Castle. The chapel is adjacent to the site of the first stone hall in the castle, built around 1160; in the 16th and 17th centuries the chapel tower was probably also used as a cannon emplacement.
On the far side of the Inner Court is the poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
Workhouses
In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...
, built on the site of the 12th-century Great Hall. The poorhouse forms three wings: the 17th century Red House to the south, the 18th-century middle wing, and the northern end which incorporates part of the original Great Hall; all of the building was subject to 19th-century renovation work. Five carved, medieval stone heads are set into the poorhouse, taken from the older medieval castle buildings. Next to the poorhouse is the Postern Gate, which leads to the Prison Tower. The Prison Tower, also called the Western Tower, is a significant defensive work, redesigned in the 16th century to feature much larger windows.[ In the middle of the Inner Court is the castle well, deep.
A number of carved brick chimneys dating from the Tudor period can be seen around the Inner Court, each with a unique design; all but three of these were purely ornamental, however, and historian R. Allen Brown describes them as a "regrettable" addition to the castle from an architectural perspective. Two of the functional Tudor chimneys make use of original mid-12th century ]flue
A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they a ...
s; these two chimneys are circular in design and are the earliest such surviving structures in England.
One of the castle meres can still be seen to the west of the castle, although in the 16th century there were two lakes, much larger than today, complete with a wharf.[Creighton, p.79.] This dramatic use of water to reflect the image of the castle is similar to that used at several other castles of the period, including Bredwardine in Herefordshire
Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
and Ravensworth Castle in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
.[ ]Water castle
A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...
s such as Framlingham made greater use of water than was necessary for defence and enhanced the appearance of the castle. The view from the Great Hall in the Inner Court would originally have included the gardens of the Lower Court, and these would have then been framed by the mere and the Great Park beyond. The area around the castle today remains a designed and managed landscape; although the Great Park is now covered by fields, the view still gives a sense of how the castle and landscape was meant to appear to its late medieval owners.
Interpretation
The late 12th-century defences at Framlingham Castle have evoked much debate by scholars. One interpretation, put forward for example by historian R. Allen Brown, is that they were relatively advanced for their time and represented a change in contemporary thinking about military defence. Framlingham has no keep
A keep 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 castles that were fortified residen ...
, for example – this had been a very popular feature in previous Anglo-Norman castles, but this castle breaks with the tradition, relying on the curtain wall and mural towers instead. The pattern of ground-level arrowslit
An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch Crossbow bolt, bolts ...
s at Framlingham were similarly innovative for their time, enabling interlocking and flanking fire against attackers. The design of Framlingham's defences is similar in many ways to Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
's innovative work at Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
and Orford.
The defensive architecture of the castle also contains various weaknesses. The Inner Court is overlooked by the Bailey, for example; the north of the Inner Court is largely exposed, while the positioning of arrow-slits in the curtain wall ignores much of the castle.[Alexander, p.24.] The open-backed mural towers, whilst cheaper to build than closed towers, could not have been easily defended once the wall had been penetrated, and because they projected only a little way from the wall, they provided very little options for enfilading fire against attackers close to the walls. These weaknesses have been used by historians such as Robert Liddiard to argue that the architecture of castles such as Framlingham were influenced by cultural and political requirements as well as purely military intent.[Liddiard (2005), p.6.]
Focusing on the cultural and political use of the architecture at Framlingham, historian D. Plowman has put forward a revisionist interpretation of the castle's architecture in the late medieval period. Plowman suggests that the castle was intended to be entered from the north end of the Lower Court, passing through the ornamental gardens, with travellers then entering through the gate by the Prison Tower – in this interpretation, more of a barbican than a tower – and then up into the Inner Court.[Plowman, pp.44–6, cited Alexander, p.24.] This would have provided high status visitors with dramatic views of the castle, reinforcing the political prestige of the owners.[ Historian Magnus Alexander disputes the practicality of this arrangement, although agrees that the route would have been more practical for hunting parties proceeding to the local parklands.]
In popular culture
Pop singer Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
, who grew up in Framlingham, references the castle in his 2017 single, " Castle on the Hill".
See also
* Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
* List of castles in England
* Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham
* Castle on the Hill, a song by Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
that refers to the castle
* The place where the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
shot a sketch for CBBC
CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...
programme, Horrible Histories
''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more.
In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpo ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Alexander, Magnus. (2007)
Framlingham Castle, Suffolk: The Landscape Context, Desktop Assessment.
' London: English Heritage Research Department. ISSN 1749-8775.
* Brown, M. (2002) ''Framlingham Castle, Framlingham, Suffolk: Archaeological Investigation Series 24/2002.'' London: English Heritage.
* Brown, R. Allen. (1959) "A List of Castles, 1154–1216", ''The English Historical Review'' 74 (291), pp. 249–280
* Brown, R. Allen. (1962)
English Castles.
' London: Batsford. OCLC 1392314.
* Carpenter, David. (2004)
Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284.
' London: Penguin. .
* Coad, J. G. (1972
"Recent Excavations Within Framlingham Castle"
''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History'', 32, pp. 152–163.
* Cole, Emily and Morrison, Kathryn. (June 2016)
The Red House (formerly Framlingham Workhouse), Framlingham Castle, Suffolk
'. Research Report Series No. 23/2016. London: English Heritage.
* Creighton, Oliver Hamilton. (2005) ''Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England.'' London: Equinox. .
* Dyer, Christopher. (2009)
Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850 – 1520
'' London: Yale University Press. .
* Johnson, Matthew. (2002)
Behind the Castle Gate: from Medieval to Renaissance.
' Abingdon, UK: Routledge. .
* Hoppitt, Rosemary. (2007) "Hunting Suffolk's Parks: Towards a Reliable Chronology of Imparkment", in Liddiard (ed) (2007).
* Hughes, Ann. (1998)
The Causes of the English Civil War.
' Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan Press. .
* Jenkins, Simon. (2003)
England's Thousand Best Houses.
' London: Allen Lane. .
* Liddiard, Robert. (2005)
Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500.
' Macclesfield, UK: Windgather Press. .
* Liddiard, Robert. (ed) (2007)
The Medieval Park: New Perspectives
'. Bollington, UK: Windgather Press. .
* Plowman, D. (2005)
Framlingham Castle, a Political Statement?
''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' 41, pp. 43–49.
* Pounds, Norman John Greville. (1994)
The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: a social and political history.
' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Pugin, Augustus. (1895) ''Examples of Gothic Architecture Selected From Various Ancient Edifices in England.'' Edinburgh: J. Grant. OCLC 31592053.
* Raby, F. J. E. and P. K. Baillie Reynolds (1974) ''Framlingham Castle, Suffolk''. London: Her Majesty"s Stationery Office. .
* Ridgard, John. (1985)
Medieval Framlingham: Select Documents 1270–1524.
' Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. .
* Smedley, W. (2005
"A Newly Discovered Fragment of a Daily Account Book for Framlingham Castle, Suffolk"
''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History'', 41, pp. 51–5.
* Stacey, Nicola. (2009)
Framlingham Castle.
' London: English Heritage. .
* Taylor, C. (1998)
Parks and Gardens of Britain: A Landscape History from the Air.
' Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. .
* Toy, Sidney. (1985)
Castles: Their Construction and History.
' New York: Dover Publications. .
External links
English Heritage – visitor information
Section of the Pipe Roll for 1175–76
recording the slighting of Framlingham Castle
{{Framlingham
Bigod family
Grade I listed buildings in Suffolk
Grade I listed castles
+
Castles in Suffolk
English Heritage sites in Suffolk
Historic house museums in Suffolk
Enclosure castles
Water castles in the United Kingdom
Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...