Stansted Mountfitchet Castle, also termed simply Mountfitchet Castle, is a Norman

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 ...

and bailey

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

Stansted Mountfitchet Stansted Mountfitchet is an England, English village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Uttlesford district, Essex, near the Hertfordshire border, north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533, increasi ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. The site is currently in use as a Living history museum.

History

The castle was built following 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 by the Montfitchet family.Pettifer, p. 74. It was constructed on high ground with a

defence, enclosing around , and a bailey complex, enclosing on slightly lower ground.'Stansted Mountfitchet', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 1: North West (1916), pp. 275–280. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=122476 Date accessed: 5 May 2013. Within the ringwork was a

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 ...

, within a small, round enclosure. It is believed to have been an early Iron Age fort and Roman, Saxon and Viking settlement. Artefacts found on the site from these periods support this belief. In 1066 the site was attacked by the Normans and Robert Gernon built his castle here, making it his chief seat and the head of his Barony. Robert Gernon (or Robert Greno as he is referred to in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086) came over from France with

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, and was rewarded with this lordship and several others in the county. The male line of the Gernon family continued for only five generations.

Conservation

Mountfitchet 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 ...

. In the 1980s the castle was reconstructed as a tourist attraction. The grounds were cleared to reveal the original earthworks and mounds and after years of battling with planners, in 1980 the work began to reconstruct Mountfitchet Castle. After many years of work the restoration of Mountfitchet Castle was complete, and it was opened to the public in 1985. It is unique in being the only wooden Motte and Bailey reconstruction on its original site anywhere in the world.

Livestock

The castle is the home of livestock, that would have been kept by people during the period when the castle was in use. In 2013, one of the castle's cockerels, a Light Brahma named '

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alo ...

', was nominated for the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

for tallest chicken, standing at tall.

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , last = Pettifer , first = Adrian , year = 1995 , title = English Castles: a Guide by Counties , publisher = Boydell Press , location= Woodbridge, UK , isbn = 978-0-85115-782-5 Ringwork castles Castles in Essex Motte-and-bailey castles Scheduled monuments in Essex Stansted Mountfitchet

History

Conservation

Livestock

See also

References

Bibliography