Menu
 
Portfolio
 
Terms of Use
 

Mountfitchet Castle

Mountfitchet Castle is a Norman ringwork and bailey fortification in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England. The site is currently in use as a Living history museum, complete with livestock that would have been kept by people during the period that the castle was in use.

The castle was built following the Norman conquest of England by the Mountfitchet family. It was constructed on high ground with a ringwork defense, enclosing around 0.5 acres, and a bailey complex, enclosing 1 acre on slightly lower ground. Within the ringwork was a keep, within a small, round enclosure.

It is believed to have been an early Iron Age fort and Roman, Saxon, and Viking settlement. Artifacts 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) came over from France with William the Conqueror and was rewarded with this Lordship and several others in the County. The male line of the Gernon family continued for only five generations.

 

 

More posts..

Ipswich Hoard

    Ipswich Hoard, plus – There are two notable Ipswich Hoards. The first was a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins discovered in 1863. The second was a hoard of six Iron Age gold torcs that was discovered in 1968 and 1969. The latter hoard has

Read More
Avebury Stones

  West Kennet Stone Avenue (pictured) was an avenue of two parallel lines of stones that ran between the Neolithic sites of Avebury Ring and The Sanctuary. A second avenue, called Beckhampton Avenue led west from Avebury towards Beckhampton Long Barrow. Avebury Ring is a

Read More
Wookey Hole Caves

Wookey Hole Caves – Fossils of a range of animals have been found including the Pleistocene lion, Cave hyena, and Badger. Wookey Hole was occupied by humans in the Iron Age, possibly around 250-300 BC, while nearby Hyena Cave was occupied by Stone Age hunters.

Read More
Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is a ruined medieval castle situated in the town of the same name in County Durham. A stone castle was built on the site of an earlier defended position from around 1095 to 1125 by Guy de Balliol. Between 1125 and 1185 his

Read More
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
error: