Eye Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Eay

In the civil parish of Eye. In the historic county of Suffolk (Modern Authority of Suffolk, 1974 county of Suffolk).

Motte and bailey castle. Motte raised 1066-71 and castle erected, the latter mostly destroyed in C14. Windmill constructed upon motte 1561-62, its successor demolished 1844 and replaced with house for Sir Edward Kerrison. This damaged 1965 during gale, partly collapsed 1979. House constructed of whole flints with brick piers and dressings. No roof. Plan is irregular enneagon consisting of curtain walls with living accommodation to south and west. To west side are remains of winder staircase to first floor, collapsed 1979. South end with foundations for 3 rooms. Curtain wall with arrow loops. Remains of late C12 flint curtain wall extends to north-west down motte to form part of north curtain wall of inner bailey. Historical note: house built for Sir Edward Kerrison's batman, who had saved his life during Battle of Waterloo. Castle mentioned in Domesday.
The remains of Eye Castle comprise a motte, centred TM 14787378, and a bailey to the west. The motte measures c50.0m in diameter by c 16.0m high. Traces of the bailey wall exist on the NW side of the motte at TM 14757380 and the remains of a square structure, probably a bastion. The top of the motte is surmounted by a 19thc folly. The bailey is marked by a steep scarp protecting a raised enclosure. No evidence of further walling was found, nor the well mentioned by authority 2. The bailey ditch has been mutilated by the gardens of adjacent houses but shows as a strong depression. (PastScape–Field Investigators Comments-F1 PAS 19-DEC-73)
There is a strong tradition of this being the site of an earlier Saxon fortification.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 468308)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM148738

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles 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 389097
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is EYE 016; EYE 018; EYE 023; EYE 027 '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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.ecastles.co.uk/eye.html
• Books
  • Liddiard, Robert, 2005, 'The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A Regional Perspective' in Harper-Bill, C. (ed), Medieval East Anglia (Woodbridge, Boydell) p33-51
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p75
    Martin, Edward, 1999 [3edn], 'Medieval Castles' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p58-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p233
    Paine, C., 1993, The History of Eye (Diss) p4-5
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p137
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p457
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p229
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p185, 357
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p649
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p155-6
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall, 1911, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Suffolk Vol1 p595-6 [plan] http://www.archive.org/stream/victoriahisto01page#page/595/mode/1up
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p276-7 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/276/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106 p371-392 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28199104%29106%3A419%3C371%3AAHOCRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
    Martin, E.A., Plouviez, J., and Feldman, H.A., 1988, 'Archaeology in Suffolk 1987' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol36 p317
    Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p275 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    anon, 1987, ‘Norman walls at Eye Castle' Ipswich Archaeological Trust News 22 p1
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol143 p309
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1980, ‘Medieval Britain in 1979' Medieval Archaeology Vol24 p249 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Martin, E.A., 1977-80, ‘Suffolk Archaeological Unit excavations, 1978’ Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol34 p218
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Harris, H.A., 1911, 'Eye Castle' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol14 pt2 p249-58
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol19 p209-245, 417-455 http://www.archive.org/stream/englishhistorica19londuoft
    Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol46 p197-217 esp212 http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologicaljo46brit#page/197/mode/1up
    Manning, C.R., 1876, 'Eye Castle' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol5 pt1 p104-14
    Creed, H. 1855, 'On the Castle and Honor of Eye' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol2 pt3 p117-24
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p439-40
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/essexeng.html#suff14]
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • RCHME, July 1994, Eye Castle, Eye, Suffolk: An archaeological survey (SSF17502)