Baconsthorpe Castle

Our View

Baconsthorpe Castle was the home of wealthy Sir John Heydon, who had it built around the 1460s to protect himself and his family during the Wars of the Roses. He was a supporter of the first Duke of Suffolk, but is said to have changed his allegiance a few times for his own gain, thus upsetting a number of influential people. The exact date when work started on the castle is not known, since Sir John did not apply for the statutory royal licence necessary to construct a fortified house. He built the house anyway, to a quadrangle design with towers and a collection of buildings around an inner courtyard, with the fortification added later. A three-storey gatehouse was built as a focal point in the middle of the south wall, and an outer gatehouse had a drawbridge over which visitors could cross the moat. It was a lavish home. In the 1560s, Sir John’s grandson added the outer gatehouse, which was inhabited until the 1920s, when one of the turrets fell down. Visiting the site today, you can see many of the walls and the gatehouses, which remain in fairly good condition and give an insight into how grand this house once was. The red-brick and knapped-flint remains are reflected in the lake, which still partly embraces the castle as a moat, offering a dramatic view and a great photo op.