Blackborough End (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castle-Hall manor

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TF66351491
Latitude 52.70614° Longitude 0.46064°

Blackborough End has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Probable moated site said to be known locally as 'The Castle'. Area totally overgrown. Interior of 'moat' seems to be raised as much as 2m above surrounding field, but bushes make height hard to estimate. Ditches are now impassible barriers of nettles, brambles, hawthorn etc. There is a pub called the 'Castle' in the village. The moat is rectangular in plan with a ditch of up to 10m in width and internal dimensions of 44m by 39m. Narrow drainage ditches lead from the southern corners of the moat. It is likely that this moat is of medieval date. It is possible that it is related to earthworks of enclosures and field boundaries located immediately to its west (NHER 50750). (Norfolk HER)

Benedictine Priory, founded 1150, nearby. If the same as the Castle-Hall manor described in Blomefield then castle name dates to C13. (NB. Middleton Motte seems to identified as a different manor.)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3429.

Books
- Blomefield, F., 1808, 'Freebridge Hundred: Middleton' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 9 p. 20-34 (tenurial history) online transcription

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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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