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Old Buckenham Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Buckenham Priory; Bukenham

In the civil parish of Old Buckenham. In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
  Confidence: This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace.   Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.
Norman castle within possibly earlier earthwork. Abandoned 1146 when granted to the Priory of Buckenham, the keep being used to provide building material for the latter. The priory was founded on the site of Old Buckenham Castle in 1146 on the completion of New Buckenham Castle, and was granted to the Augustinian Canons on the proviso that they dismantled the defenses of the old castle to prevent the site falling into the hands of rebels, and using the materials to construct the priory. The priory was dissolved in 1536. The north east crossing pier of the Priory church remains standing, constructed of flint and rubblestone, as do the earthworks. The crossing was excavated in 1950. The basic plan of the earthworks can be described as an oblong with rounded corners aligned southwest-northeast, this probably comprising the original keep or inner bailey. A lesser enclosure of the same size is attached to its southeast side. The outline of the Priory is visible on aerial photographs.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM07179257

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 387622; 387619
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 9202 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

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This record last updated on Thursday, December 17, 2009

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