Monument record CLA 008 - Clare Castle (Med)

A large motte and double bailey castle probably founded by Richard Fitz Gilbert, first of the 'de Clares' , in the 11th century, and occupied until the later 15th century (S1). Between 1317 and 1360 occupied by Elizabeth be Burgh who undertook extensive construction work and kept detailed records (GSB Prospection, Geophysical Survey Report 2003/14). First referred to in 1090 when the church of St John was explicitly stated to lie within Clare Castle.
Castle is on S side of town, 20 acres in area (R8)(S2).
Motte - circumference 850 feet, height 53 feet, with remains of circular shell-keep, perhaps C12/C13, but with late footings, buttresses and battlements (S1).
Inner Bailey - to SE, now almost entirely occupied by Railway Station, and part of earthworks destroyed but N rampart, with remains of curtain wall, secondary Motte with traces of C13 tiled buildings on top and S rampart survive (S1).
Outer bailey - to NE divided from inner bailey by broad, swampy moat, now cut by road and used as playground - ramparts on NE side well defined. Further swamps flank the whole E side of castle (S1).
Some excavations in 1849 - tiles, pottery etc, and supposed doorway of Church of St John Baptist "in Castello" (R5)(S1).
Reckoning counter found 1960 (CLREM), in Outer Bailey - Edward II.
1950s: limited excavations by Knocker in outer bailey (R4).
1981: Whole site is now Country Park. Remains of shell keep masonry in reasonable condition. All earthworks covered in trees - scrub, difficult to define - 2nd motte impenetrable. Railway now disused - buildings house Information Centre. Some slight erosion of main motte due to children sliding. Some dead trees on ramparts (S1).
1991: earthworks heavily overgrown. Outer bailer earthwork hardly visible (S3).
1993: surface survey of area immediately east of inner bailey - nothing archaeologically significant - details in (S5).
2003: for summary history and geophysical survey of parts of monument see GSB Prospection, Geophysical Survey Report 2003/14. Geophysical survey located several anomalies which are of archaeological potential. These inlcuded repsonses suggestive of structures, ditches, pits, fired remains/hearths, and former garden features. (S12)
See also Sax.
2012: Monitoring of the shell keep and bailey wall during consolidation of the monument. The remains date from different phases of development of the castle: the bailey wall is a striking example of Norman wall building which is likely to date to the 11th century. The shell keep is later as the treatment of the flint contrasts with the bailey wall and shows none of the indicators of Norman architecture. The use of brick and tile fragments in the core confirms its post Norman dating and the style of the buttresses suggests a later 13th century date; a period when the construction of this type of castle was coming to an end. The presence of later brickwork suggests that the remains of the castle were maintained in the post-medieval period, long after it had stopped being a residence, probably as a romantic ruin to enhance the landscape (S6)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2012 (S13).

Due to castle in the parish 'normal' manor land marks are missing. It has been decided therefore that the manor was at the castle.
Pre 1066 Aelfric son of Withgar gave this manor to St John, 5 free men have always belonged to this manor with all customary due. King William I took the manor back.
1066 manor of 24 carucates held by Aelfric.
1086 Manor of 24 carucates belonged to Richard, son of Count Gilbert. Manor descended through the Earls of Clare, Hereford, and Gloucester to the Mortimers.
1462 Cicely, Duchess of York, the kings mother.
1553 Granted to Sir J. Cheke. However, Queen Mary took the manor in exchange for other lands. It became annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster, where it remained. For long periods the Barnardiston family possessed it, passing to Elwes of Stoke College.
1909 John Payne Elwes posseses. (S7)

Sub Manor - Stonehall al Stonehouse Al manse manor.
1533 Granted by the Crown to Thomas and Heorge Golding. (S7)

Earthworks visible on Lidar. See associated files.

From NHRE record:

There appears to have been a castle or principal residence at Clare in Saxon times (site not known), but the earliest record of it is in Domesday. The present castle was in existence in 1090 occupied by Gilbert de Clare, whose father Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted the lands by William the Conqueror.

It comprises a motte (M), 53ft high, surmounted by a fragment of a cylindrical tower of flint rubble, and two baileys (B1 and B2), the inner southernmost having been walled. An outer ditch surrounded the whole. The situation is at the angle formed by the junction of the River Stour and Chilton Stream, protected by their floodplains on the S and E sides. The tower on the motte was originally 52ft internal diameter with walls 6ft thick, but only the W arc survives to a height of 25ft. The inner bailey (B1) is bounded by a bank and outer ditch; the bank was originally surmounted by a flint rubble wall defended by bastions and demi-bastions, but it only survives in parts in the N and S and on the E side of the motte to a maximum height of 20ft. Until c1720 it stood on the E and S sides, but now only the foundations remain.

The entrance from outer to inner bailey was defended by flanking towers and probably a drawbridge, with what appears to be an outer "barbican of two demi-bastions of earth and outer ditch carried around".

The outer bailey (B2) bounded by bank and ditch shows no trace of a wall. The W side is destroyed, but a sketch drawn in 1785 shows an entrance on this side. (R1)

A motte with two baileys; the former is intact though its ditch has been partially filled in for cottage gardens and for the station yard.

A large proportion of the inner bailey (B2) is flattened by the railway and station buildings, and the entrance between inner and outer baileys is mutilated by the station approach road.

Only the E arc of the outer baily remains (B2); the remainder is destroyed by town building.

It is suggested that some of the earthworks, notably the entrance between baileys, may pre-date the motte phase. (R3)

The main castle buildings were within the inner bailey (B2) and they included the 'main hall' called "Clarette hall" several other rooms, a chapel, the usual kitchens, larder and saucery .. Outhouses, stables .." The castle was a place of residence in the 14th C, but it probably fell into ruins at the end of the 15th C when it became a crown possession.

In 1955 when a sewer trench dug across the outer bailey, excavations revealed a possible Md entrance, several hearths and 12th/13th C potsherds. A second trench near the Chilton stream revealed worn pieces of shoe leather identified as 14th/15th C, probably indicating a rubbish dump. (S8)

A secular college, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was founded "in the castle" at Clare by Earl Alfric probably circa 1045. In 1090 it became an alien priory cell for Benedictine Monks until this was moved in 1124 to Stoke by Clare (see TL 74 SW 3). (S9)

There were substantial Medieval gardens which included a "glass chamber". Probably an aviary used as a green house. (S10)

Authy 1 is incorrect in stating that a castle is documented in Doomsday; there is no reference to a castle at Clare at all. Authy 6, quoting VCH Suffolk 2, state that a secular college was established "in the castle" at Clare in the time of Aelfric, circa 1145. VCH takes its information from Dugdale, (which refers only to the later move to Clare in 1124), and Tanner. The latter was not available for consultation.

That Clare was an important centre is attested by Doomsday, but the only evidence for a Saxon fortification is apparently that of Tanner. Tanner's source was presumably the foundation charter for the secular college at Clare, which is referred to in Domesday. It must remain open to question as to the status of the site prior to the Norman constrction. As the centre of the largest of Aelfric's estates in Suffolk, it is not unreasonable to think that the site may have been occupied by a high status Saxon dwelling, or indeed a fortification. (S11)

Following the hiatus caused by Covid which delayed the 2020 season, the final stage of this 3-year community excavation took place in 2021 within the Inner Bailey. The results have been rewarding with some stunning highlights. The project expanded on trenches opened in 2019 and re-opened a hand-dug trench located in the woods against the S bailey bank that was first examined in 2013 (Fig. 9). In addition, test pits were also excavated to answer specific questions; an ongoing aim has been to define the extent of the pre-Norman cemetery, and we can now see that it covers at least 3,000m2, with burials on its W edge cut away by the moat.
Digging in Trench 6 revealed the presence of large postholes that seem to represent an aisled timber building probably, from its style, 12th/13th century in date, which would be consistent with the majority of pottery recovered in this area. Other finds included an iron arrowhead, a padlock key and a copper alloy-couching needle.
The reopened trench by the S bailey bank had been started in 2013 and it had been tentatively suggested that the bonded remains of flint and mortar footings might survive quite close to the surface. On further investigation, this material all appears to be significant dumps of redeposited masonry, possibly deliberately cleared up to the bank in the medieval (or early post-medieval) period in order to re-use the land, perhaps for gardens? Impressive here was the large amount of high-quality decorative building material recovered, included as painted window glass fragments and glazed tiles. The contrasting absence of worked building stone suggest a structure that was demolished quickly, with the readily useable elements salvaged and the trickier material dumped.
Amongst the material were two fragments of an intricately carved, double-sided ivory comb of 11th/12th-century date, made from African elephant ivory (Fig, 10). One side panel depicts the hind legs of a beast that could be a griffin, set amidst foliage. The other side is decorated with a lion; one of a possible pair with the second now missing. The teeth and sides of the comb are absent. It appears that at some point the object may have suffered lamination, causing the teeth to fail and rather than discarding such a fine object, the teeth were neatly sawn away leaving the decorative panels to be reused. Ivory combs of this form have been described as ‘liturgical’ combs, thought to be used by bishops and priests before and during the mass. However, some scholars feel that they would have had a more secular use as luxury items and are perhaps better identified as Byzantine combs, reflecting their point of origin in Egypt, Syria, or just possibly Constantinople. This appears to be the first example of an ivory Byzantine comb excavated this century, and in Britain these combs are scarce. There are only three known examples, one each in the Victoria & Albert and British Museums, both of which are old finds without decent provenances, and a third fragment from a stratified context under York Minster.

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2021 (S13)

The second season of community excavations took place in the autumn of 2019, as part of a larger Heritage Lottery Funded project awarded to the Country Park Trust. The archaeological programme is designed to build on the results of a number of smaller scale community digs carried out previously across the park. This season’s work took place in the Inner Bailey to identify evidence of buildings associated with the castle and an earlier cemetery believed to have been associated with a collegiate church of St John, recorded as being within the Castle in 1090. The unexpected results from five trenches showed that the cemetery appeared to cover much of the inner bailey. Burials were formally aligned in rows and men, women and juveniles were represented with an estimated >500 people likely to be interred, suggesting that this was a communal rather than monastic burial ground. Evidence for the medieval buildings was slight in all but the southern area; future excavations will concentrate on maximising the information from this part of the site and addressing the research questions posed by the discovery of such a large cemetery in the same location as the later castle. The three-week dig attracted 119 volunteers and c.1000 visitors. Prize finds were fragments of Middle Saxon vessel glass and a cut half penny of William I.

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2019 (S14).