Monument record MTT 003 - Mettingham Castle/Mettingham College (Med)

See CRN 00468 for seal of Mettingham College.
The first castle, or perhaps fortified manor house, of the de Norwich family stood within the small moat (at TM 3600 8865). It was rebuilt on a larger scale, circa 1343 in the moated area to the N (at TM 3596 8871). To the S is a later moated enclosure (at TM 3597 8862) which contains the earliest moat in its NE corner, and it is here that the modern Mettingham Castle stands. Other ditches to the E may have formed part of C14 fortifications. The gatehouse to the N, remains of the barbican and other wall fragments survive (S3).
The college (originally founded at Raveningham in 1350 by Sir John de Norwich) was settled at Mettingham Castle in 1394, where it remained until its dissolution in 1542. The collegiate buildings were erected in the small moated site where the first castle stood, and some fragments of wall still stand (S3).
History given in (S1) & description in (R2).
Listed Grade II prior to scheduling in March 1953 (S4).
Visible remains: a) N front, almost complete, with superb gatehouse
b) a length (40m) of the S curtain wall
c) an altered fragment of the domestic block
d) ruins of the quadrangular college with corner towers on SE and SW angles (S4).
Ruins in fairly good condition but extremely heavily covered in ivy. Cracks appearing in W end of curtain wall and a hole in one of the walls of quadrangular college. Moat water filled (S4).
`Brass' spoon taken from out of the moat at Mettingham Castle in 1824 and exhibited to the SIA meeting at Bungay on 9 October 1861 (S6).
Licence to crenellate granted 1342 to Sir John de Norwich, 1st Lord Norwich. Site consisted of two conjoined moated areas or baileys - much of the northern one has been infilled but most of the southern one is intact and water-filled. The northern bailey was originally surrounded by a mortared flint curtain wall, most of the north side of this, with a tall gatehouse, still survives, together with a shorter length on the south side. Between the two baileys is a small, roughly quadrangular moat containing the remains of a mortared flint keep or tower. This inner moat is broader and less regular than the outer ones. Within the N bailey, W side, is a fragment of a ruined building with mortared flint walls, possibly part of a guests lodgings. A survey of 1562 refers to a mansion house on the S side of the N bailey, which has now disappeared (see parish file for details of this and the site in general). This building certainly seems to have contained the lodgings of the Master of the College in the early C16. By 1562 the `keep' or inner castle was `utterly decayed' and there must be some doubt as to whether it housed the Secular College that occupied the site from 1394 to 1542. The present house on the S bailey dates from 1880, replacing an 1820s house that was situated on the W side of the N bailey. The house demolished in the 1820s may have been the mansion referred to in 1562, or a part of it (S9). The barn in the S bailey has recently been converted into a house. Many disused farm buildings, modern, occupy the E half of the N bailey.
1991: Said to be falling and at risk (S12).
1996: Re-creation of moat towards NW of castle. Initial evaluation concluded that no damage would occur to the medieval deposits if the new ditch does not exceed 1m in depth. Subsequently, new ditch excavated in April 1996. Observation of water pipe trenches and removal of the footing of the garden wall bordering the road also took place at the same time of which results were inconclusive (S15).
1998: Rapid structural survey of south curtain wall & desilting of adjacent moat ditch (S13).
1998: Evaluation by test pitting of area just outside (?) scheduled area indicated that spoil from the moat had been used to raise the level of the internal area, though no evidence of a buried soil was recorded. Details in (S14).July 2000: TM 3595 8864 - Monitoring of swimming pool construction within moated area (following negative evaluation (S4)), located only C13-C15 brick and LMed/early PMed tile (S16).

2010: Geophysical resistance survey identified probable foundations within the Inner Court/Keep which are likely to relate to an earlier south-eastern tower and additional rooms along the inside of the Keep walls. However, magnetic survey failed to detect an obvious fireplace. In the North Bailey, the existence of a storehouse has been confirmed, along with indications of an inner wall to the moat. Other resistance responses may indicate further buildings or floor/yard surface. The results from the South Bailey identified a former trackway/boundary and a peculiar curving anomaly which probably relates to a garden feature. Neither the resistance nor magnetic survey detected evidence for a fishpond in this area (S17).

2009:Recording of the keep of the 14th-century castle was carried out, working alongside specialist conservation builders to stabilise and consolidate the structure. The survey revealed hitherto unrecorded architectural details, including a boarded wall-walk and a postern gate, which add greatly to the understanding of the function, and the former appearance of this, the focal part of the castle.
The whole castle covers an area of 1.9ha and comprises two baileys enclosed by two conjoined moats; the north bailey is surrounded by a 30ft curtain wall and is entered through an imposing gatehouse. The keep stands on its own moated enclosure between the two baileys and is composed of a flint and brick-built curtain wall with a tower at each corner; this enclosed an inner court in which a timber-framed hall once stood. The hall was built off-centre against the south and west sides of the court with the corner towers acting as stair turrets to gain access from the upper floor of the hall to the tower rooms and a walkway around the top of the curtain wall. The stairs within the towers did not extend to the ground floor, and there was no indication of an internal connection between the ground floor and the upper chambers. The evidence of low ceiling height and smaller windows suggests that the ground floor would have been the service rooms for the hall and private apartments above. The keep’s design contained a mix of purely defensive features on its north and east sides which were compromised by features on the south and west sides to make the domestic hall more habitable, such as large ground floor windows and the un-walled bailey. Dressed stones from an earlier Norman building were also found within the building’s fabric. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2009 (S20).