Castle Acre and Massingham

By Laurence -

Day two on our stay in Happy Valley, and we headed to Massingham and had a lovely lunch at the Dabbling Duck, before moving on the Castle Acre to see the massive ruins of the Norman Castle (which gives its name to the town)

The castle was built by William de Warenne soon after William the Conquer gave him the land. It was lived in by his family until the early 14th century, when it fell into ruin. Considering how old the ruins are, a fair amount has survived.



You can get a sense of the scale of this castle from these images, I hope.




Some history of the site


The Bailey Gate is one of two stone gatehouses added to the settlement's massive earthwork defences in about 1200. The main road into the village still runs between its towers.
Adjoining the castle grounds are the ruins of one of the largest and best-preserved monastic sites in England dating back to 1090. It was the home of the first Cluniac order of monks to England and the Cluniac love of decoration is everywhere reflected in the extensive ruins. It was the castle we came to see so we did not visit this site.


Location: Castle Acre, King's Lynn PE32, UK

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