Simon Garrett
The origins of Framlingham’s castle probably dates back to the 11th Century. Roger Bigod, an obscure knight from Normandy, came to England with his father Robert le Bigot, with William the Conqueror. Roger and his father gained favour with William, and they were granted substantial estates in East Anglia following the Norman conquest.
Henry I granted Roger licence to build a castle at Framlingham, but it may have been built by his son Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk (possibly of wood). It was certainly in existence by 1148, as Hugh Bigod’s stronghold.
It is likely that there were earlier pre-Norman structures on the site. There may well have been a fortification there built by King Uffa around 575, and perhaps used by King Rædwald (early 7th Century), whose court was at Rendlesham. However, there is no documentary evidence until the castle of Hugh Bigod.
Hugh’s castle was destroyed by Henry II after the 1173-4 revolt. The revolt against Henry, rather unsportingly led by Henry’s wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of his sons, was ultimately unsuccessful. Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk was on the losing side, and his castle was “slighted” (dismantled).
Hugh’s son Roger (another Roger), 2nd Earl of Norfolk, was also deprived of his estates including Framlingham, but regained favour with Richard I, and rebuilt the castle, this time in stone. The curtain wall we see now is all that remains from this castle.
The defensive structure is impressive, but King John took it in 1216 after a short siege. It is thought that Roger surrendered the castle having seen the fate of Rochester Castle, which resisted John’s siege. However, by 1225 the Bigods had come to a settlement with the Crown and regained the Castle.
In 1270, Roger Bigod (another one: the 5th Earl; the Bigods were not very imaginative in naming their children) carried out extensive modifications, and the castle became more of a luxury residence than a defensive fortification. However, a further falling out with the monarchy meant that the castle reverted to the Crown on Roger’s death in 1306. By that time a large prison had been built in the castle.
Around 1312, Edward II gave the castle to his half-brother, Thomas of Brotherton, to whom he also gave the title Earl of Norfolk. Thomas died in 1338, and with no male heirs his daughter Margaret was in charge of the castle. During that century, between 50 and 100 people lived there. Following Margaret’s death her grandson (yes, a Thomas) inherited the castle.
In 1476 the castle was inherited by John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who made extensive improvements. In the early 16th Century there were at least 29 rooms in the castle. John was killed at Bosworth Field, and as the owner of the castle and on the losing side against the Crown (again), it reverted to the Crown. Eventually his son Thomas, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, regained royal favour and the castle, which was lavishly redecorated. The 3rd Duke, also Thomas (the Howards shared the Bigod’s lack of nominative imagination) made little use of the castle. He was arrested by Henry VIII, who feared the Howards had ambitions on the throne. He escaped execution only because Henry died first, but Henry’s son Edward VI kept him in the Tower, giving Framlingham Castle to Mary, Henry’s oldest daughter.
After Edward’s death in 1553, Mary proclaimed herself Queen of England at Framlingham Castle.
The first document Mary wrote as Queen was written at Framlingham Castle, and a copy is on display in the Lanman Museum, inside the castle.
Thomas was released from the Tower by Mary, but did not live in Framlingham. When his son the 4th Duke, yet another Thomas, was executed for treason by Elizabeth I in 1572 (for being a Catholic and a rebel), the castle passed back to the Crown. Again. From this point there appear to have been minimal repairs to the castle, which went into decline. It was used as a prison again from 1580 onwards (housing Catholics).
James I returned the castle in 1613 to the 1st Earl of Suffolk, Thomas Howard (surprising name choice), but by now the castle was derelict, and Thomas lived at Audley End House. Thomas’ son Theophilus fell into debt (probably due to poor choice of name) and the castle was sold to Sir Robert Hitcham in 1635 for £14,000.
Sir Robert died the following year, leaving the Castle to Pembroke Hall Cambridge (now Pembroke College) with the proviso that the college destroy almost all internal buildings and create a workhouse instead. Very little is known about the buildings within the castle before this time.
Sir Robert Hitcham’s legacy and later
Much of what follows about the buildings inside the Castle comes from a report commissioned for Historic England in 20161.
Legal disputes and the minor distraction of the Civil War meant that the workhouse was not built until around 1660. However, further disputes and mismanagement meant that the workhouse was unsuccessful, and the workhouse building inside the Castle was not completed until 1729.
The buildings now in the castle were mostly built after the Restoration in 1660. By then, almost all existing buildings within the castle had been demolished.
Only the “north range”, sometimes called the “White House” remained (as Sir Robert Hitcham instructed that building should be saved). This is the right-hand wing in this picture.
Writing around 1730, Robert Hawes (1665-1731), the one-time Steward of Framlingham and a Trustee of Hitcham’s Estate, described the demolished buildings as:
‘The chapple, Great hall, the buttry, pantry, skullery, the Inner Kitchin, prevy Kitchin, pastry, porter’s lodge, with the Chambers over them, the wine-seller, beerseller, the Brewhouse and Millhouse’
(From the Historic England report cited in the footnote below.)
The Red House – the wing on the left in the picture – was completed in around 1664.
The central block was built in 1729 on the site of the medieval Great Hall (which had been demolished in 1658).
By 1663, it appears that a school had been set up in the north range. On completion of the Red House, a workhouse was established in that building. It was non-residential; the poor worked there but lived in their own homes.
However, in 1666 the buildings (or at least the Red House) were used as a “pest house”, to house plague victims. It is not clear when (or even if) the Red House resumed as a workhouse. In 1699 the Trustees of the Hitcham Estate produced an alternative proposal for a new building. Both school and workhouse were in a state of tumult until the central block was built in 1729. This “new” building included three floors, with lodging rooms and work rooms for indoor working paupers. It housed the workhouse until 1839. Following the 1834 Poor Law, a new workhouse was created in Wickham Market, to which the Framlingham poor were eventually moved.
After this, the 1729 block was converted into a “Town Hall”, sometimes referred to simply as the “Castle Hall”. The first floor and internal walls were removed, but the attic floor was left in place (the attic was used as a dormitory for the school, by then a school for girls, in the north range).
The hall was used for a variety of other purposes, including as a court house, and a drill hall for the Framlingham Rifle Corps.
The 1729 block continued to be used for public gatherings until 1913, when Pembroke College placed the guardianship of the castle to the Ministry of Works. From this time, it seems that the buildings became referred to as the “Poor House”, perhaps to avoid the stigma of the “Work House”. That 1729 block is also now sometimes (wrongly) referred to as the “Great Hall”, when it was merely on the site of the medieval Great Hall.
Restoration begain from 1913, though not completed until after the Great War. The site did not open to the public until mid 1920s.
In 1931 a pageant was held in and around the castle. This was a massive undertaking involving around 800 people. For more see here.
During World War II, the central block was used as an Officers’ Mess. The Red House was used to house the Castle Foreman, and as the residence of the Castle’s custodian. Diana Howard was the last custodian to occupy the house, into the 21st century.
The castle and its internal buildings are now under the guardianship of English Heritage.
The upper floor of the north range is now used for the Lanman Museum.
The 1729 hall contains a cafe, gift shop and English Heritage displays.
The Red House contains English Heritage offices, and an office for the Lanman Museum.
Sources
- “Framlingham Castle”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framlingham_Castle
- “The History of Framlingham in the County of Suffolk”, Loder et al, 1798
- “Framlingham Castle: History and Stories”, Engligh Heritage, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/framlingham-castle/history/
Footnote
- The Red House, formerly Framlingham Workhouse in Framlingham Castle, Suffolk by Emily Cole and Kathryn Morrison, report for Historic England, 2016, https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1172597&recordType=GreyLitSeries ↩︎