Caister Castle, Norfolk
Caister Castle is the ruinous remains a 15th. century moated castle with a 100 ft. (33 m) high tower.
The manors of Caister Hall and West Caister had been acquired by the Norfolk family of Fastolf in 1363, and Sir John Fastolf was born in a moated manor house that was demolished to make way for the castle.
Fastolf was one of the most famous Lancastrian soldiers and diplomats of the Hundred Years War whose distinguished military career took place mainly in France. He was created a Knight of the Garter and fought at numerous battles, including Agincourt. Fastolf’s name was later adapted by Shakespeare for his character Sir John Falstaff in Henry V, but here the resemblance ends.
Fastolf built the castle between 1432 and 1446, drawing inspiration for the design from the Rysbank Tower at Calais which was familiar to him from his time fighting in France. Accounts which survive, compiled by William Gravour or Gravere, the clerk of works, record the final cost of the castle was £6,046. The moat was filled with water from the River Bure, and the building accounts record that the nearby Pickerill Creek was widened and deepened, and a barge ditch was cut, thereby creating direct water access from the castle to the River Bure via the creek, and thence to the North Sea.
Whilst in London, Fastolf became friends with John Paston who later became his lawyer. On 5th. November 1459 Fastolf died childless, and intestate. He was buried in a chapel built by him at St. Benet’s Abbey in Holm. Paston, with some justification, claimed to be the heir of Fastolf, who bequeathed his extensive estates, including Caister Castle, to Paston. This put him in direct conflict with various major players of the time, such as the Duke of Norfolk and Sir William Yelverton.
Following an ownership dispute, in August 1469 the castle, defended by John Paston junior and approximately 30 men, was besieged by the Duke of Norfolk's force of 4 knights and 3,000 men. The two month defence was unsuccessful, resulting in the death of one of the Paston's longest serving servants by a crossbow wound, and the loss of the severely damaged castle to the Duke. The urgent letters which passed between Margaret Paston and her two sons provide graphic testimony to the violence of the siege. These letters are the first record of private correspondence to survive in Britain and are now held in the British Museum.
Some years later, the castle was ultimately returned to the Paston family's ownership. In 1659, the Paston's sold it to William Crow, an upholsterer and money lender of the City of London. Later, the castle descended by marriage to the Bedingfield family.
The castle, other than the tower, fell into ruin after 1600. It suffered from neglect and the robbing of stonework and other fittings, including in about 1776 when the Rev. David Collyer removed a newel staircase with 122 stone steps from the tower and incorporated it into his house at Wroxham, in Norfolk. The inner moat was filled in between 1842 and 1893, and a lake was created by the widening of the south-eastern side. In 1952 the castle was in the ownership of Charles Hamblen-Thomas, and in the mid-1960's the castle grounds to the south-west were made into a motor museum which remains to the present day.
The castle is of historical interest because it is one of earliest buildings of importance in England to use brick as the main construction material. The clay required for the 1.7 million bricks used in constructing was dug about 1.25 miles away from the castle's site. The freestone from Caen and the plaster of Paris were delivered by ship and timber was brought from Fastolf’s manor at Cotton in Suffolk.
The castle received Grade: I listed building status on 25th. September 1962. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 402085).
Caister Castle, Norfolk
Caister Castle is the ruinous remains a 15th. century moated castle with a 100 ft. (33 m) high tower.
The manors of Caister Hall and West Caister had been acquired by the Norfolk family of Fastolf in 1363, and Sir John Fastolf was born in a moated manor house that was demolished to make way for the castle.
Fastolf was one of the most famous Lancastrian soldiers and diplomats of the Hundred Years War whose distinguished military career took place mainly in France. He was created a Knight of the Garter and fought at numerous battles, including Agincourt. Fastolf’s name was later adapted by Shakespeare for his character Sir John Falstaff in Henry V, but here the resemblance ends.
Fastolf built the castle between 1432 and 1446, drawing inspiration for the design from the Rysbank Tower at Calais which was familiar to him from his time fighting in France. Accounts which survive, compiled by William Gravour or Gravere, the clerk of works, record the final cost of the castle was £6,046. The moat was filled with water from the River Bure, and the building accounts record that the nearby Pickerill Creek was widened and deepened, and a barge ditch was cut, thereby creating direct water access from the castle to the River Bure via the creek, and thence to the North Sea.
Whilst in London, Fastolf became friends with John Paston who later became his lawyer. On 5th. November 1459 Fastolf died childless, and intestate. He was buried in a chapel built by him at St. Benet’s Abbey in Holm. Paston, with some justification, claimed to be the heir of Fastolf, who bequeathed his extensive estates, including Caister Castle, to Paston. This put him in direct conflict with various major players of the time, such as the Duke of Norfolk and Sir William Yelverton.
Following an ownership dispute, in August 1469 the castle, defended by John Paston junior and approximately 30 men, was besieged by the Duke of Norfolk's force of 4 knights and 3,000 men. The two month defence was unsuccessful, resulting in the death of one of the Paston's longest serving servants by a crossbow wound, and the loss of the severely damaged castle to the Duke. The urgent letters which passed between Margaret Paston and her two sons provide graphic testimony to the violence of the siege. These letters are the first record of private correspondence to survive in Britain and are now held in the British Museum.
Some years later, the castle was ultimately returned to the Paston family's ownership. In 1659, the Paston's sold it to William Crow, an upholsterer and money lender of the City of London. Later, the castle descended by marriage to the Bedingfield family.
The castle, other than the tower, fell into ruin after 1600. It suffered from neglect and the robbing of stonework and other fittings, including in about 1776 when the Rev. David Collyer removed a newel staircase with 122 stone steps from the tower and incorporated it into his house at Wroxham, in Norfolk. The inner moat was filled in between 1842 and 1893, and a lake was created by the widening of the south-eastern side. In 1952 the castle was in the ownership of Charles Hamblen-Thomas, and in the mid-1960's the castle grounds to the south-west were made into a motor museum which remains to the present day.
The castle is of historical interest because it is one of earliest buildings of importance in England to use brick as the main construction material. The clay required for the 1.7 million bricks used in constructing was dug about 1.25 miles away from the castle's site. The freestone from Caen and the plaster of Paris were delivered by ship and timber was brought from Fastolf’s manor at Cotton in Suffolk.
The castle received Grade: I listed building status on 25th. September 1962. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 402085).