Bungay Castle

Heritage listing

Details Principal elements: the medieval castle at Bungay sits higher than, and forms the focus of, the current village. The existing street pattern respects the layout of the former castle ditch, particularly around the northern and eastern edge where later properties, built on the outer edge of the castle ditch, radiate from the castle. For many the rear property boundaries are formed either by the curtain wall or inner bailey wall. The castle survives as a combination of standing, earthwork and buried remains including the castle keep, curtain wall, inner bailey wall, the earthwork remains of the inner and outer bailey defences and the remains of the external ditch, which survives primarily as a buried feature. Buried archaeological deposits within the inner bailey have also been recorded through geophysical survey. Description: the extensive ruins of Bungay Castle are the key focal point of the existing village, comprising the substantial remains of the C12 keep built by Hugh Bigod, and the C13 curtain wall added by Roger Bigod, together with the remains of the wall which originally enclosed the inner bailey. The core element of the standing remains of the castle site is the square base of the keep, attached to the south wall of which are the remains of the forebuilding. Surrounding the keep are the curtain walls, which are roughly octagonal on plan, and which incorporate the twin, semi-circular towers of a gate-house to the west of the keep. The inner bailey wall extends from the castle’s curtain wall and encloses a roughly rectangular area to the west of the castle. It survives as a standing structure extending westwards from the castle curtain wall, approximately adjacent to the north-west angle of the castle keep. This section of the structure forms the rear wal

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.