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Mettingham Castle

Coordinates: 52°26′41″N 1°28′17″E / 52.4448°N 1.4714°E / 52.4448; 1.4714
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Mettingham Castle
Mettingham, Suffolk
Gatehouse of Mettingham Castle
Mettingham Castle is located in Suffolk
Mettingham Castle
Mettingham Castle
Coordinates52°26′41″N 1°28′17″E / 52.4448°N 1.4714°E / 52.4448; 1.4714
TypeFortified manor house
Site information
OwnerPrivate
Open to
the public		Yes, on selected days
ConditionRuined
Site history
MaterialsStone
The original sign was erected in 1960 and included Mettingham castle on top and two owls in the spandrels. The new sign was erected and unveiled on 23rd June 2019 after seeing the deterioration of the old one. John Reeve, a local farmer and artist, who had painted the old sign for years, noticed the damage. Richard Lees, who had developed his skill as an expert wood carver and craftsman after his retirement from the army, generously offered to design and make a new sign. He had restored the sign in Geldeston, and created a new one in Ellingham. After much discussion it was decided to keep the castle for the new sign and include the owls as before. It was also decided to include a horse. There are a plenty of horses in Mettingham now, but there were even more working during the First and Second World Wars. The obvious model for the central figure was the Supreme Champion mare, Florence, belonging to Jayne Groom who can be seen in the centre of the sign holding the horse with a Farrier attending to the hooves. The Mettingham name is still carved down the post, with a carving of the church and what look like vegetables or trees below the name. The sign is located at the side of the B1062 close to the Tally Ho antiques centre, not far from the church.
Mettingham Village Sign

Mettingham Castle was a fortified manor house in the parish of Mettingham in the north of the English county of Suffolk.

Details

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Mettingham Castle was founded by Sir John de Norwich, who was given a licence to crenellate his existing manor house on the site in 1342.[1] The first house stood within a small moat, up to 15 foot wide with 6 foot high banks; upon receiving permission to crenellate, however, he built another court to the north of this, again moated, with a gateway to the north.[2] Another moated court was later built to the south.[2] An Edwardian style gatehouse formed the entrance to the castle and supplemented a stone wall that surrounded the property.[3] By 1562, there were "stables, servants' lodgings, kitchen, bakehouse, brewhouse, malting house, storehouses, and an aisled hall" within the castle walls.[4]

A late 19th century plan of the castle

The castle remained in Sir John's family until 1394, when it was given to a college of secular canons from nearby Norton, who established Mettingham College on the small moated court within the castle.[5] The monks taught up to 13 boys at the castle.[6] After the dissolution of the monasteries the property was sold off to a sequence of private owners after 1542.[1] The castle was largely demolished in the 18th century to make way for a new farm house on the site, which lasted until around 1880 when it was pulled down in turn; the house rebuilt on the site reused parts of the original medieval stonework.[7]

Today the site is a scheduled monument and a grade 2 listed building; the gatehouse still survives, as do some of the stone walls and many of the surrounding moats and earthworks.[8] In the 21st century a major renovation project occurred at the castle to repair the worsening damage, involving a grant of £330,000 by English Heritage.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mackenzie, p.283.
  2. ^ a b Wall, p.621.
  3. ^ Mackenzie, p.284; Mettingham Castle, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, accessed 17 July 2011.
  4. ^ Mettingham Castle, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, accessed 17 July 2011.
  5. ^ Mackenzie, p.283; Wall, p.621.
  6. ^ a b Mettingham Castle, English Heritage, accessed 17 July 2011.
  7. ^ Mackenzie, p.285; Mettingham Castle, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, accessed 17 July 2011.
  8. ^ Mettingham Castle, Gatehouse website, accessed 18 July 2011.

Bibliography

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  • Mackenzie, J.D. (1896) Castles of England. New York: Macmillan.
  • Page, William. (ed) (1911) The Victoria History of Suffolk, Vol. 1. London: University of London.
  • Wall, J. C. (1911) "Ancient Earthworks," in Page (ed) (1911).
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