Hedingham Castle

Description

Hedingham Castle was the main seat of the Earls of Oxford. It is a large earthen ringwork castle with two baileys and was probably built in the late C11/early C12 by Aubrey de Vere who was granted the land by William I during the Norman Conquest. The large central mound was evidently the main focus of the castle, with the smaller, inner, bailey to the east and the larger, outer, bailey to the west. The entrance to the inner bailey is lost, possibly beneath the C18 Hedingham Castle House. The outer bailey quickly went out of use as the town grew. The magnificent and sophisticated keep was built around the middle of C12, at the height of the Anarchy, and may have been constructed to mark the elevation of the de Veres to the earldom of Oxford (an honour granted by Queen Matilda). Other buildings would also have existed, though no sign of these remain today. Around the castle three hunting parks were created; Great Park, Castle Park and Little Park. The 13th Earl of Oxford was instrumental in the accession of Henry VII, and it was he who was responsible for an ambitious building programme at Hedingham at the end of C15, when all of the earlier stone buildings other than the keep and a gatehouse (now gone) were replaced by brick towers and apartment ranges covering most of the castle mound; slight earthworks mark the positions of some of these buildings. The most notable of these was the Great Brick Tower, an ornate 'donjon' overlooking the town of Castle Hedingham; the foundations of the stair turrets of this tower remain. The Tudor bridge (recently restored) and Tennis Court also date to this phase of the history of the castle. The castle was surveyed in 1592 by Israel Armyse, but many of the buildings appear to have been razed to the ground by the early C17, by which time it had ceased to be the seat of the Earls of Oxford. The earthworks at Hedingham Castle were surveyed by the Royal Commission in October and November 1995 following a request from English Heritage. (RCHME, 1995)

Castle Keep circa 1130-1140. Built for Aubrey De Vere and reputedly designed by William De Corbeuil, Archbishop of Canterbury. Of flint rubble faced throughout with Barnack stone. C20 wooden floors and lead roof. Of square plan 58ft x 53ft. Four storeys. The walls have an average thickness at ground floor level of 11ft tapering to 10ft. Height approximately 70ft with two remaing turrets at north west and south east corners with heights varying between approximately 15ft to 25ft. The remains of the north west rectangular fore-building of basement height now of flint rubble formerly stone faced with stone steps approaching the entrance door from south to north. The Castle Keep is situated in the middle of the inner bailey which originally had a curtain wall and wall connected to the outer bailey by a bridge. The Great Hall and other buildings were to the south west, most of which including the bridge were rebuilt C15/C16 and were probably destroyed C17/C18. Some material being re-used circa 1718-19 when the present house was rebuilt in the outer bailey to the north east. The castle ranks among the most important Norman buildings in the country if not northern Europe. (Listed buildings report)

Comments

"The noble C12 tower of Hedingham Castle has been the subject of artists' pencils and antiquaries' pens, but the great fosse and ramparts have seldom, if ever, been depicted or described." (Gould, 1903) Not recorded in King's list of Ringworks of 1966 and not recorded as a timber castle in earlier version of this database (before Jan 2011).