En un regard
Le château en bref
Mettingham Castle is a moated fortified manor house in the parish of Mettingham, in north Suffolk, not far from Bungay and the Waveney valley. The site, of about five acres, is laid out in several enclosures; the castle proper occupied the northern enclosure.
In 1342-1343 Sir John de Norwich obtained a licence to crenellate in order to fortify his manor; the work was completed by his wife, Dame Margaret. In 1394 a college of secular priests, moved from Norton, settled in the smaller southern enclosure and remained there until 1542, notably teaching a few young boys. After the Dissolution the estate passed to lay owners. A survey of 1562 still describes a stone enclosure with a gatehouse, stables, lodgings, kitchen, barn and an aisled great hall. The house was probably pulled down in the 18th century; the house that replaced it was itself demolished around 1880 in favour of a new dwelling reusing medieval stone.
The main survival is the powerful flint gatehouse with stone and brick dressings, of three storeys and flanked by square towers, with traces of a barbican and a machicolated gallery, framed by long stretches of the north wall pierced by windows. Consolidated with help from English Heritage, the site was removed from the Heritage at Risk Register in 2010; it remains in private ownership.
