Haverhill Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Newt Pond

In the civil parish of Haverhill.
In the historic county of Suffolk.
Modern Authority of Suffolk.
1974 county of Suffolk.
Medieval County of Suffolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL65814577
Latitude 52.08555° Longitude 0.41808°

Haverhill Castle has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

A poor moat with nothing but the name of a castle. (King)

The site of Haverhill Castle was on high ground, its south east scarp and ditch were preserved until recently, but now can only be traced by fencing and part of the ditch 12 ft deep containing water. Position occupied by Castle Farm (VCH). There are references to a 'castle' at Haverhill in 1373 and 1403, but an examination of the earthworks known as Haverhill 'Castle' indicate that it was a fortified manor-house and there is no sign of a mound. The moated area is oblong and much mutilated. (Dickinson) (PastScape)

Comments

The site now seems to be a large fishing pond with no remains of the earlier farmhouse, one arm of the moat shown on the 1886 may still survive but must be damaged. King saw the site after it had been seriously damaged and his dismissal of the site as a castle seems to be a dismissal of this site as a motte and bailey. It was clearly the site of a moated house of some status with a late medieval reference to it as a castle and many 'certain' castles are identified on less evidence.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 376868.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) HVH 004.

Books
- Martin, Edward, 1999 (3edn), 'Medieval Castles' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p. 58-9
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 461 (reject)
  Dickinson, P.G.M., 1956, The Little Guide of Suffolk p. 183
  Wall, 1911, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Suffolk Vol. 1 p. 590 online copy
  Barker, H.R., 1907, West Suffolk Illustrated p. 178-9
Periodical Articles
- 1984, Journal of Haverhill and District Archaeological Group Vol. 3 p. 156

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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