ONGAR CASTLE

Essex

Up until recently (when the far end of the Central Line was closed) Ongar was one of the very few medieval Castles accessible on the London Underground!

This very large motte was probably raised by Eustace, Count of Boulogne immediately after the Conquest.  In 1162 it was granted to Richard de Lucy who may have been responsible for the rebuilding in stone.  Until very recently the remains of a keep were visible on the motte and a few pieces of masonry remain from a gatehouse.

The Castle was occupied until Elizabethan times, but so little remains of the stonework it is hard to tell what the Castle's form may have been.

The earthworks are private, but visible from a footpath which runs most of the way around the moat.

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2019