The castle in context
- James Mindham
- Jul 1, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 6, 2022
Back in the winter of 2021, I compiled a document detailing what was known about the castle at the time of writing in order to try and find a starting point for its reconstruction. The document ended up being a short essay and was titled:
'ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE FOR GRESHAM CASTLE TOWARDS A SPECULATIVE RECONSTRUCTION'
Since then some observations and conclusions have altered somewhat due to new emerging evidence, but the core uncertainty over who built the walls and how the site developed from early Medieval times is still as pertinent as ever.
I have also recently given a talk to the parishioners of Gresham which gave the castle more of a context in terms of the Paston story. It also underlined my growing belief that the traditional narrative of Sir Edmund Bacon being responsible for the building of the walls and towers needs to be challenged.
I therefore thought it would be useful to create a series of blog posts based on the talk that I gave. Also, at the time of writing, there is the exciting prospect of a 'Friends of Gresham Castle' group being established from the local population. This group is already liaising with Historic England with the objective of rescuing the castle from the trees and undergrowth. The ultimate aim would be to create a site which could be safely accessed by the public and may even lead to a much needed archaeological evaluation.
RECENT TIMES
The earliest recorded investigation we have is from Whites Directory from 1864 :
It was 150 feet square, with a round tower 36 feet in diameter at each corner. It was surrounded by a deep moat, which was cleaned out in 1844, when the old drawbridge (formed of massive timbers), the keel of a boat, a few articles of pottery, and the entrance to a subterraneous passage. The foundations of the building may still be traced.
In 1888, the first OS map shows the castle represented for the first time in detail. It indicates that the south eastern corner is largely missing.
Over recent decades, the site has been cleared periodically and possibly recorded, although no trace of any surveys can be found. There is a chance that a plan and associated notes can be found at Gressenhall within the Historic Environment Record.
There are also rumours that an attempt had been made (within the last 30 years) to find some legendary treasure said to have been secreted away in an underground passage. A recent magnetometry survey did reveal a buried rubble spread in the field close to the south east corner of the moat - this was reputed to be the dump of rubble resulting from the search!
MEDIEVAL GRESHAM
The manor and manor house
It is assumed that Medieval Gresham was typical of most other manors at the time. A manor was usually comprised of tracts of agricultural land, a village whose inhabitants worked that land, and a manor house where the lord who owned the estate resided or those who controlled it on behalf of the lord.
This is an important point to make. Manors were owned by the wealthy elite, sometimes such a manor would be one of many that the lord owned so it would be unrealistic to think that the lord of the manor actually lived in the manor house unless it was his principle residence. He certainly would have stayed there on occasional visits, but we need to think of the manor house as the administrative centre for the manor itself and occupied by extended family or the bailiff or both.
A perfect illustration of this is William Paston himself. He bought the manor in 1427, but remained at Paston Hall. It wasn't until his son, John, married Margaret and the manor became theirs in 1444, that the actual lord of the manor resided in the manor house.
The manor house and church
The first thing that struck me in trying to understand the context of the Castle is its dislocation from the church. Typically you may expect to find the church and manor house in close proximity; and at this point we must remember that the 'Castle', in Gresham's case, is the assumed location of the original manor house.
Concerning the church, the west wall and tower base have Saxon-Norman origins and the tower was added in the following century. In the village itself, the only record of any Medieval finds concerns a series of rectangular cropmarks to the east of the castle and just south of Lower Gresham. These cropmarks were photographed in 1976 and fieldwalking in the same year recovered 12th-13th century pottery and tile fragments.
An assessment of Google Earth imagery shows further cropmarks closer to the castle and not far from the 1976 site, involving small land divisions and trackways. It is hoped that a fieldwalking group will further explore this area later this year.
All in all it is not unreasonable to assume that the Medieval village could have been located somewhere between the castle and Lower Gresham and this may explain why the original manor house was situated at the present day moated location.
However, there is also a possibility that the manor house was located in this low-lying marginal area in order to ensure that the moat would be constantly filled with water. As the vast majority of moated sites are 13th and 14th century in origin, it calls into question whether the current moated site is the location of the original manor house and that the village and the original manor house were located near the church.
GRESHAM MANOR
The early years
The first dispute of ownership happened in the 1270s. The Branche family had held the manor since the early 12th century, but by mid 13th century the manor was held by Robert de-Stuteville.
Nicholas Branche made a Quo Warranto, against Robert, essentially meaning Robert had to prove his claim to the manor. Robert was successful in doing so through the help of the then Earl Warren.
In 1306 Robert died a year before Edward I and in 1307 (the first year of Edward II) Edmund Bacon had a grant from the King for the lands. 13 years later Edmund was granted a license to crenelate the manor house.
This 'license to crenelate' or 'patent to embattle' has understandably influenced the traditional narrative that, because Sir Edmund Bacon had a license, it was he who dug the moat and built the walls. It is absolutely vital to try and understand the context of Bacon's license and what it actually meant in practical terms. The reality was that a property holder did not require a license to dig a moat around it or indeed fortify it.
A license to crenelate
Analysis by Philip Davis, drawing on work by Coulson and King, provides us with a valuable insight into the context of obtaining a license to crenelate a property. It is now widely accepted that licences to crenelate were largely symbolic.
Licences to crenelate were mainly symbolic representations of lordly status: castellation was the architectural expression of noble rank (Coulson, 1982, p72).
As Davis explains;
A licence to crenelate was supposedly a grant that gave permission for a building to be fortified. The building that often resulted from these licences had some show of fortification, like battlements, moats and gatehouses, but they were also mainly symbolic, although the fortifications probably represented some defence against thieves.
In fact Davis estimates possibly less than 5% of such houses were granted a licence to crenelate specifically for defence. For some context there are over 400 moated sites in Norfolk - less than 20% of those have a license. He goes on to clarify;
Many 'defences' were like modern burglar alarms and CCTV. The licence was not permission to build a military fortress; a person with the power and resources to do so would not require permission and most fortified buildings were built without the owner applying for a licence to crenelate.
So very few licenses can be directly associated with a defence in mind. Owning a defensible house, licensed or unlicensed, did not guarantee safety and Davis goes on to say:
Clearly the moat and walls had a roll in stopping thieves but crenelations, even if with a wall walk, are only defensive if there are armed men behind them. Probably most of these houses had only a few men servants, with limited military experience, to defend them. In reality these houses could only be defended against a band of thieves or raiders, generally a serious attack would result in the family and servants running away and hiding elsewhere
It has been estimated the cost of a small garrison of 12 men was over £200 a year at a time when very few English knights beneath the level of the peerage had an income exceeding £200 per annum.
So why would someone petition for a license to crenelate? In a time when status was woven into the fabric of society, if you had royal favour through obtaining a license you would gain enormous prestige as a result. There would also be some sense of security as a license would essentially be a confirmation of ownership from the King.
It is also important to recognise that licenses were also given as a reward for, and inducement to, royal service. As far as Gresham and Bacon's license is concerned, we need to understand Bacon’s story and the reasons for him seeking a license for his Gresham manor house. As Davis concludes:
a better understanding of licenses to crenelate comes from exploration of the stories of the individuals who were granted licences and not from sweeping assumptions based on broad historical themes
So what does this mean for Bacon and Gresham? Well, the traditional narrative that Bacon's license meant that he was responsible for digging the moat and building the walls is unfounded.
Sir Edmund Bacon seems to have been primarily based in Ewelme Oxfordshire, he was constable of Wallingford Castle for a while. He was also landholder of significance in East Anglia and elsewhere, he was militarily active and had a high public profile.
I think it can be safely assumed that the Gresham manor house was not a principle residence for him, but the manor was important enough for him to seek a license to crenelate the house from the King. He had connections with the area through family at Baconsthorpe, one wonders if he needed to have a guarantee that his ownership of Gresham could not be disputed and show that he had royal favour. He could, of course, have still dug the moat and built the walls, but he did not need the license to do that.
The question is why would he have fortified the manor house at Gresham to the extent of building towers and walls?
Sir Edmund Bacon died at Ewelme in 1336.
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