Editing Bungay Castle

{{Short description|Castle in Suffolk}}
{{For|the novel|Bungay Castle (novel)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = Bungay Castle
|location = [[Suffolk]], England
|coordinates = {{Coord|52.4560|N|1.4361|E|type:landmark_region:GB-SFK|display=inline,title}}
|image = [[Image:Bungay Castle, 2012.jpg|225px]]
|caption = The remains of Bungay Castle
|map_type = Suffolk
|map_size = 200
|map_alt =
|map_caption = Shown within [[Suffolk]]
|type = [[Edward I of England|Edwardian]] castle
|materials =
|height =
|condition =
|ownership = Bungay Castle Trust
|open_to_public = NO
|battles =
|events =
}}

'''Bungay Castle''' is a Grade I [[listed building]] in the town of [[Bungay]], Suffolk.<ref name=he>[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1034404?section=official-list-entry Historic England, Bungay Castle], list entry no. 1034404 (listed 9 May 1949). Retrieved 12 May 2022.</ref>

==History==
[[File:James Moore - Bungay Castle - B1975.3.600 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|alt=pale watercolour of a crumbling stone tower and overgrown bushes|Bungay Castle in 1790, in a watercolour painting by James Moore.]]
[[Image:Bungay Castle 1819.jpg|thumb|right|The gate towers in 1819.]]
The site was originally a [[Normans|Norman]] castle built by [[Roger Bigod of Norfolk|Roger Bigod]] in about 1100 to take advantage of the natural protection provided by a curve in the [[River Waveney]].<ref name=pettifer>Adrian Pettifer, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=47iheRUGKIEC English Castles: a Guide by Counties]'' (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2002). {{ISBN|978-0-85115-782-5}}.</ref> Roger's son [[Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk|Hugh]] was a prominent player in the civil war period known as [[the Anarchy]] (1138–1154), and his loyalty was called into question during the early years of the reign of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]].<ref name=pettifer/> Henry confiscated Bungay but in 1164 he returned it to Bigod, who built a large square Norman [[keep]] on the site in 1165. It is not recorded how much it cost to build the keep, but the archaeologist Hugh Braun, who led the excavations at the castle in the 1930s, estimated that it would have cost around £1,400 ({{Inflation|UK|2500|1209|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).<ref>Hugh Braun, [http://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XXII%20Part%202%20(1935)_Bungay%20Castle%20report%20on%20the%20ecavations%20H%20Braun_201%20to%20223.pdf "Bungay Castle: Report on the Excavations"] {{open access}}, ''Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History'' '''22''' (1935), pp.&nbsp;201–223.</ref> Bigod was on the losing side in the [[revolt of 1173–1174]], and Bungay was besieged, mined and ultimately [[Slighting|slighted]] by royal forces.<ref name=pettifer/> According to the historian [[Sidney Painter]], it was one of at least 21 castles demolished on Henry II's instructions.<ref>Sidney Painter, "English Castles in the Early Middle Ages: Their Number, Location, and Legal Position", ''Speculum'' '''10''', 3 (1935), pp.&nbsp;321–332. {{doi|10.2307/2848384}}.</ref>

The site was subsequently restored yet again to the [[Bigod family]] and was further developed in 1294 by [[Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk]], who probably built the massive gate towers on the site.<ref name=pettifer/> He fell out with [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and after his death the castle reverted to [[the Crown]], falling into disrepair and ruin.<ref name=pettifer/> In 1483 it was re-acquired by the [[Dukes of Norfolk]], who retained ownership until the 20th century, except for a short period in the late 18th century. In 1766 the site was sold to Robert Mickleborough, who quarried the keep and curtain walls for road-building materials. Later, in the early 1790s, it was purchased by Daniel Bonhôte, a local solicitor, but was sold back to the Dukes of Norfolk in about 1800.<ref name=he/>

Other than the removal in 1841 of dwellings that had been built on the site, little or no repairs were undertaken for several centuries.<ref name=he/>

==Restoration and preservation==
The castle's [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain walls]] and the twin towers of the [[gatehouse]] remain today, as well as a fragment of the [[keep]]. Restoration work under the supervision of Hugh Braun began in 1934, following excavations by the amateur archaeologist Leonard Cane. In 1987 the castle was given to the town of [[Bungay]] by the [[Miles Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk|17th Duke of Norfolk]] and is now owned by the Bungay Castle Trust.<ref name=he/> It was [[scheduled monument|scheduled]] in 1915, one of the first sites to be protected under the [[Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913|Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act]] of 1913, and was subsequently [[listed building|listed as a Grade I monument]] in 1949.<ref name=he/>

The castle is currently closed (Summer 2024) until further notice and is covered in scaffolding as repairs are made. It does not have a reopening time.

==The castle in fiction==
Bungay Castle was the setting for the eponymous novel by [[Elizabeth Bonhôte]], ''[[Bungay Castle (novel)|Bungay Castle]]'', a [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] romance published in 1796, a few years after her husband Daniel had acquired the site.<ref>''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present Day'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990).</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.visitbungay.co.uk/attractions/bungay-castle/ Visit Bungay: Bungay Castle]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20220127030844/https://www.visiteastofengland.com/attraction_activity/bungay-castle Visit East of England: Bungay Castle]

[[Category:Bungay]]
[[Category:Waveney District]]
[[Category:Ruins in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Castles in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Bigod family]]