Castle Rising


Aerial view of Casle Rising castle. The main performance area was to the left of the castle in this photo and the archery butts were set up near the corner where the tree is on the right.	This is a view through the castle gateway. The gateway is situated in the upper part of the surrounding ring as shown in the aerial photo to the left, between the trees and the castle.

Castellarium Anglicanum /	Castle Rising TF666246
D. J. Cathcart King (New York; London: Kraus International, 1983)	"Norman keep with strong forebuilding in the middle of a powerful ringwork. A small square gatehouse, but no curtains. Two strong outer baileys at the ends. The earthwork is at least in part later than the masonry, which is mid-12th century. Principal residence of Queen Isabella, 1330-58; in bad repair by 1398-9. "Exceptionally well preserved masonry castle, with earthworks of and exceptionally fine type." p. 306-7
Norfolk 2: north-west and south / Niklaus Pevsner and Bill Wilson (London: Penguin, 1999) [The buildings of England series]	"The castle was begun by William d'Albini II c.1138, the year he married Alice of Louvain, the widow of Henry I. At once he was created Earl of Lincoln, and in 1141 Earl of Sussex and underlined his new importance by adding to the castle and the family estates (notably Buckenham Castle in Norfolk and the Snettisham manor). He died in 1176. On the death of William d'Albini V in 1243, young and childless, the castle passed to the Montalts. Robert Montalt, Lord of Rising 1299-1320, is one of the more architecturally significant members of this family, as it is likely that he was responsible for some early 14th century alterations to the keep. In 1331 the Crown took it over and until her death in 1358 Isabella, the dowager queen, lived in comfort and the lightest of supervision following her part in the murder of her husband Edward II. It appears that a substantial residential suite was erected south of the keep about the time she took possession. In the 15th century the castle decayed and there were quite a number of surveys of its condition; one in 1482-3 tells us that 'there ys never a howse abyll to kepe owt the rene water, wynde, nor snowe'. In 1544 it came to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, but had already probably entered ... the 'squatter' period, a time of minor demolition and alteration. The castle was not tested in any military action and proved incapable of posing a threat during the Civil War of the following century. In 1822 Fulke Greville Howard began sporadic restorations until his death in 1846, and in 1958 the castle came into the custody of the State...." p. 224-5