Mileham Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Burghwood; Burwood; Hall Yards; Moleham

In the civil parish of Mileham.
In the historic county of Norfolk.
Modern Authority of Norfolk.
1974 county of Norfolk.
Medieval County of Norfolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TF916193
Latitude 52.73699° Longitude 0.83678°

Mileham Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Mileham Castle is one of the largest motte and bailey castles in Norfolk. It straddles the B1145, a pre-Conquest road that remained the main east-west route through the county until the 17th century. The castle was constructed in about 1100 and its remains form a surprisingly imposing monument consisting of a motte built up around the fragments of a stone keep, two baileys and a further banked rectangular enclosure to the north of the road, which now contains Burwood Hall (built in 1793) and farm buildings. A large wooded deer park was once attached to the south of the castle. The positioning of the castle astride the road is thought to have been connected with raising revenue from a possible market place in the northern enclosure and from tolls on travellers. It is probable that the castle had fallen out of use by about 1300, but before then the tall keep, probably whitewashed, when seen against the green wooded backdrop of the deer park, would have been an impressive sight. (Norfolk HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1004018, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number nf95
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1304456
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 358723.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 7230.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 107
  Liddiard, Robert, 2005, 'The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A Regional Perspective' in Harper-Bill, C. (ed), Medieval East Anglia (Woodbridge, Boydell) p. 33-51
  Cushion, B. and Davison, A., 2003, Earthworks of Norfolk (Dereham: East Anglian Archaeology 104) p. 173-5 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 59
  Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (British Archaeological Reports British Series 309) p. 79-82
  Wade-Martins, P. (ed), 1999, Norfolk From The Air Vol. 2 (Norfolk Museums Service) p. 42
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 160-1
  Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p. 68-9
  Brown, R.Allen, 1989, Castles from the Air (Cambridge University Press) p. 158
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 307-8
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 262
  Wilton, J.W., 1979, Earthworks and Fortifications of Norfolk (Weathercock Press) p. 23
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 245
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Blomefield, F., 1809, ''Launditch Hundred: Mileham' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 10 p. 15-25 (tenurial history) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- (Taylor) in Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, D.G., 1969, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 13 p. 258, 260 online copy
  Taylor, M., 1969, Norfolk Research Committee Bulletin Vol. 18 p. 7
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 208 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1882, The Builder Vol. 43 p. 176, 186
  Carthew, G.A., 1879, 'On Earthworks at Mileham' Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 8 p. 10-16 online copy
  Barnwell, 1819, The Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 89 Part 1 513-4 and plate online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Madoc, T. (ed), 1702, Formulae Anglicanum (London) online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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