Monument record EYE 031 - Eye Castle; Kerrison's Folly (PMed)

March 1990: Victorian `keep' or folly on top of castle motte. Excavation of 1m square against inside edge of Kerrison's Folly, on top of castle motte, established that C19 folly had probably been erected directly on top of the Med walls of the castle keep. Details in (S1)(S5).
1996: Further small excavation in Keep, details to follow (S4)(S7).
May 2011: clay tobacco pipe found on "RH side outside wall 5' up behind ivy" by Claire Ansell, Countryside Manager (Mid Suffolk DC). Dated circa 1810-40, ribbed bowl with paired leaves (or peerhaps ears of wheat) disguising seams. The maker's surname initial (on thje right hand side of the spur, as seen by the smoker) is A. The Christian name is illegible due to abrasion but might be a T, in which case the maker might have been Thomas Adams, recorded in a trade directory in Stowmarket in 1844. If not it was probably another member of the extensive Suffolk pipe-making family of that name (S6).
Also Med.
2012: Archaeological monitoring and a photographic survey were carried out on repairs to Eye Castle wall and Kerrison’s Folly. The structure had no roof, as it was damaged in 1965 and partly collapsed in 1979. The wall remains and internal rooms which had previously been excavated were to be consolidated and capped with rough racking; the curtain wall was to be repaired and missing copings were to be replaced (S1).
For Motte & Bailey, see EYE 016. Note finds `recently found in the gravel below the foundations of wall of Eye Castle' in 1859 (S2) - see CRN 03996.