The Gatehouse website record for Haughley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Haganet; Hawghlee; Hegenoth; Hageneth

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

A moated motte and bailey castle at Haughley. The motte, 210 ft in diameter at base and 80 ft high, has a flat summit which is not concentric with the base, giving a much steeper slope on the north side. Beneath the topsoil of the summit are the foundations of a shell keep. The quadrangular bailey to the south is 390 ft wide by 300 ft north to south, surrounded by a deep ditch and high bank which rises to a maximum height of 16 ft above the surface of the enclosure. An infilled ditch to the north of the motte was formerly used as an overflow and on the west side of the bailey is a moated area of apparently later date (VCH). The motte and bailey is generally as described by VCH but there are no visible remains of the shell keep other than a scatter of flint about the summit of the motte. The moated enclosure to the west of the bailey incorporates the original stream, diverted to feed the ditch of the motte, and appears to be an additional outer bailey with south entrance, rather than a homestead moat (Field Investigators Comments-F1 FGA 24-FEB-66). West suggests that the whole of the area south of the castle was within an outer bailey. Examination of the gardens shows a small scarp or rise about 2-3 ft high which is lost to the east by the development of the market, the green and the accretion of buildings on its line. However, in the gardens east of the churchyard there is a deep hollow which could be an infilled ditch, although there is now no sign of it joining the existing moat surrounding the bailey. The ditches to the north of the motte (including the "overflow" mentioned by VCH) and the land to the edge of the sunken way on the east may have delineated the demense of the castle; making the castle area a more complex but unified whole. The moated area to the west of the bailey was also considered by West to be the surviving part of the "outer bailey" (West). (PastScape)
Large motte and bailey castle built in late C11 by Hugh de Montfort. Centre of the Honour of Haughley (or Hagenet), sometimes called 'Honor Constabularie' through its connection with the constableship of Dover Castle. Castle seized by Crown in 1163. Captured, after a short seige, and destroyed in 1173 by rebels led by the Earl of Leicester, the keeper then being Ralph de Broc. (Suffolk HER ref. Renn)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM025624

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 387048
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is HGH 001 '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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