BACONSTHORPE CASTLE

Norfolk

This handsome moated Castle dates from the early 15th century.  It was built by a local lawyer of somewhat dubious repute, John Heydon, who was an avid supporter of the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses.  It is a quite late entry into the genuine Castle canon, and has a very similar compatriot nearby at Gresham where all but a few fragments of masonry have now vanished.

John Heydon's Castle was greatly expanded by his son, Sir Henry, who inherited in 1480. Sir Henry doubled the width of the moat and added the outer curtain wall and the strong Gatehouse (probably where his father's original had stood).

Nothing in the way of violence ever seems to have occurred at Baconsthorpe and it was still occupied in Elizabethan times when an outer Gatehouse was added, this being still occupied as recently as 1920.  The rest of the Castle fell into disuse at some stage and fell into ruin quite naturally.

The Castle is owned by English Heritage and is accessible at daylight times for no charge.

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2001