Eye Castle, Suffolk
Photo © Bob Jones, 25 February 2008
Eye Castle, Suffolk
Photo © David Barnes, 9 April 2006
Eye Castle, Suffolk Photo © Bob Jones, 25 February 2008 |
Eye Castle, Suffolk Photo © David Barnes, 9 April 2006 |
An 11th century Norman motte with a Victorian folly on top. Some pieces of the original stonework can be seen on the slope of the motte. The castle was in use until the end of the 14th century.
Eye Castle was in the town of Eye, Suffolk. This was a motte and bailey castle which stood on the only high ground in north Suffolk. It was built during the reign of William I by William Malet. It was attacked by Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk, in 1173. Although the attack failed, the castle had to be rebuilt. It was then mainly destroyed in the 14th century.
Later, in the 16th century, a windmill was built on the site. A later windmill was demolished in 1844 and it was replaced by a house for Sir Edward Kerrison. This has since partly collapsed (and is sometimes now referred to as a Victorian folly). The mound and some stone fragments of the original castle still remain.
EYE CASTLE, SUFFOLK
Robert de Malet is said to have raised a Norman keep upon the mound, which would be surrounded with a stone wall and, outside of that, by a ditch; a wall also capped the entire circuit of the earthen vallum.
De Malet held the office of Great Chamberlain under Henry I., but appears still to have espoused the hopeless cause of Robert Curthose, that King's elder brother, and was, in consequence, dispossessed by Henry, and banished from the country. His lands were then bestowed on Stephen of Blois, afterwards King of England, and in later times they came to William, Earl of Boulogne and Moretain, who died in 1160, when all reverted to the Crown. King John, in his sixth year, gave the castle and honour to William Longespee, Earl of Salisbuiy, and after him John's second son, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, had them. In 13 Henry III., Hubert de Burg, Earl of Kent, held them; but in 20 Henry III. we find Henry, Duke of Brabant and Lorraine there. In 1258 they were in the possession of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall. After him the fortress became vested in King Edward I., and after him Edward II. conferred it and its lands upon various persons. Edward III., in his eleventh year, bestowed it on Robert de Ufford, when he made him Earl of Suffolk, giving him a special grant in tail of the castle, town, and manor of Eye, with the manors depending upon that honour. This noble's son, William, dying in 1381, and leaving no issue, the whole fell again to the Crown, who next bestowed the property on the de la Poles.
Richard II., in his ninth year, in creating Michael de la Pole (who had married Katherine, only daughter of Sir John Wingfield), Earl of Suffolk, conferred on him the castle and lordship of Eye. He was afterwards attainted (see Wingfield), but Henry IV. restored to his son the title and estates, which this family held till 5 Henry VIII., when Edmund de la Pole was beheaded and they reverted to the Crown. Charles I. settled the property in dower on Queen Henrietta Maria, who, with the exception of the Commonwealth interlude, held it till her death in 1669. Then it was settled on Catherine, Queen of Charles II., and subsequently the castle and honour came into the possession of the Lords Cornwallis, and next, by purchase, to Sir Edward Kerrison, Bart., the late owner.
The Castles of England - Their Story and Structure by Sir James D. Mackenzie, 1896