Black Joy Fort (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Weybourne Hoop; Waybourne Hope; Cley; Clay

In the civil parish of Cley Next The Sea.
In the historic county of Norfolk.
Modern Authority of Norfolk.
1974 county of Norfolk.
Medieval County of Norfolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TG04654510
Latitude 52.96462° Longitude 1.04635°

Black Joy Fort has been described as a probable Artillery Fort.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

During the invasion scare of 1587, Edmund Yorke drew up a complex plan of an earthwork rampart backing Salthouse Marshes, with tow forts at either end, one adjoining the rampart at Weybourne, the other separated from the rampart at Cley Haven. This latter fort, Black Joy Fort was planned to be a six-pointed star fort with ravelins between each face, the first example of such an advanced design in England. it was probably Yorke's solution to the rapid rebuilding of an existing unbastioned sconce. Some part of the defences existed then as orders were given to enlarge 'the sconce at Weybourne Hoop'. It is unlikely that the plan was was cried out beyond strengthening the extant sconce as the Armada commenced soon after the plan was drawn up. (PastScape ref. Kent, 1988)

A sinuous ditch and bank were found in Cow Hole saltmarsh, to the north of Cley village and west of the Glaven channel (between TG 04641 44993 and TG 04688 45222). They defined a roughly rectangular raised area measuring 170m north to south by 50m east to west These earthworks may be shown on a map dating to 1769 and were recorded in 1951. The 1953 floods did not destroy them as once thought. They could be the remains of 'Black Joy forte', a fort shown on a map from 1588 and proposed as a defence against the Spanish Armada. (Norfolk HER ref. 2004, Norfolk Rapid Coastal Survey)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1394969.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 33214.

Books
- Hooton, J.J., 1996, Glaven Ports: Maritime History of Blakeney, Cley and Wiveton in North Norfolk (Blakeney History Group) p. 111-14
  Kent, Peter, 1994, 'Armada and 17th-Century Defences' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p. 136-7
  Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton) p. 179-80
Periodical Articles
- O'Neil, B.H.St.J., 1941, 'The fortification of Weybourne Hope in 1558' Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 27 p. 250-262
  Cozens-Hardy, B., 1938, 'Norfolk Coastal defences in 1588' Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 26 p. 310-14
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- David Robertson with Peter Crawley, Adam Barker and Sandrine Whitmore, 2005, Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Archaeological Survey (Norfolk Archaeological Unit Report No. 1045 for English Heritage) p. 84-5, 151-2 fig 26 online copy

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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.

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