Ruins of castle and eleventh century church

Heritage listing

Details Castle Rising castle stands on a broad spur above the southern edge of the village of Castle Rising, c.1km south of the Babingley River and near to the edge of the marshland which borders the Wash to the west. The monument includes a 12th century hall keep castle, and the remains of associated buildings of various dates, amongst which are the ruins of an 11th century church which was incorporated in the castle and put to secular use. These buildings are set within a ringwork comprising a central enclosure with a strong earthwork bank and ditch, an entrance on the east side with a bridge and 12th century gatehouse, and outworks to east and west. The standing buildings of the castle, including the bridge and gatehouse, are Listed Grade I and included in the scheduling. The church is the earliest masonry structure identified on the site and is situated in the central enclosure c.30m to the north of the keep, partly within the southern face of the northern bank. The walls still stand to a height of up to 4m. The building measures c.26m in length overall and is divided into three cells: the nave at the western end, measuring 12m by 4.8m internally, with a low stone bench running around the foot of the walls, a central area c.4m square, and a chancel measuring c.4.8m by 4m internally with an apsidal east end. At the western end of the nave there are two opposed doorways, both of them now blocked, in the north and south walls respectively. The chancel was lit by three narrow, round headed, internally splayed windows, two of which remain on the north and east sides of the apse. The third, which no longer survives, was on the south side, where it was recorded in the 19th century. The church dates from the period before the construction of the castle, when Rising was held

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.