Sir Christopher I
Who owned Baconsthorpe Castle from 1550 to 1579?
Baconsthorpe Castle Baconsthorpe Castle , historically known as Baconsthorpe Hall , is a ruined , fortified manor house near the village of Baconsthorpe , Norfolk , England . It was established in the 15th century on the site of a former manor hall , probably by John Heydon I and his father , William . John was an ambitious lawyer with many enemies , and built a tall , fortified house , but his descendants became wealthy sheep farmers and , less worried about any attack , developed the property into a more elegant , courtyard house , complete with a nearby deer park . Remains . By the end of the 16th century , the Heydons were spending beyond their means and the castle had to be mortgaged ; nonetheless , new formal gardens and a decorative mere were built alongside the house . Sir John Heydon III fought alongside the Royalists during the English Civil War and in retaliation was declared delinquent by Parliament in 1646 . His fortunes did not recover and he began to demolish Baconsthorpe in 1650 in order to sell off its stonework . The outer gatehouse was turned into a private home and continued to be occupied until 1920 , when one of its turrets collapsed . In the 21st century , the ruins of the castle are managed by English Heritage and open to visitors . The remains of the castle comprise a moated inner court and mere to the north , with an outer court and an outermost court to the south . The main surviving buildings are the inner , fortified gatehouse , dating from the 15th century ; the long building , used for wool manufacture ; and the outer gatehouse , first built in the 16th century but considerably altered in later years . The outermost court holds part of the original barn , a large building that would have symbolised the Heydons lordship of the manor . History . 15th century . Baconsthorpe Castle was established by the Heydon family in the 15th century . The village of Baconsthorpe lay between Holt and Norwich , and was named after the local Bacon family . The village had two manor houses , the first in the main village and the other , called Wood Hall , on the outskirts . William Baxton had come from a relatively humble background , but by around 1400 he had bought the Bacon familys lands in the area , including half of the Wood Hall estate . William probably began the construction of the castle , then termed Baconsthorpe Hall , starting to construct the moated platform and the inner gatehouse around 1460 . Williams son , John Heydon I , continued to develop the property and acquire more land around the area , changing his family name in the process to disguise his lower social origin . John was initially the political client of the William de la Pole , the Duke of Suffolk ; after the dukes death , John Dudley , the Earl of Warwick became his next patron . John was an ambitious lawyer , and came to be hated and feared across the region as his power increased . By the time of his death in 1479 , the inner gatehouse was completed and work on the courtyard house begun , creating the basis of a tall , fortified house . The castle demonstrated Johns political aspirations , and was intended to impress his peers in the region . Sir Henry Heydon continued his fathers work on the castle . Henry married into London money and became a wealthy sheep farmer , being knighted in 1485 . He completed the castles main house , service court and the north-east tower . In the process , perhaps being less worried than his father about any attack on his property , he altered the character of Baconthorpe to produce what the historians Jacky Hall and Paul Drury term an upmarket , courtyard house . 16th century . Over the course of the 16th century , the Heydons became one of the leading families in Norfolk , marrying well , practising law and enjoying the profits from their sheep and the wool trade – their products were sold in England and also exported to the Netherlands . Sir John Heydon II inherited Baconsthorpe in 1504 but primarily lived at Saxlingham ; after a pause in construction , he finished the construction of Baconsthorpes north court and turned the east range of the castle into a wool factory before his death in 1550 . His son , Sir Christopher I , then built the outer gatehouse and barn around 1560 , and in 1561 was formally given a licence to crenellate the castle to create a deer park alongside the castle . The Heydons lived in lavish style , Sir Christopher maintaining a household of 80 servants and a coach with two horses . The castle was inherited by Sir William Heydon II in 1579 , but by now the wool trade was in decline and the family was building up debts . Sir William sold off parts of the estate to cover his fathers debts , but Williams business projects in London failed and he was forced to sell off further lands . Baconsthorpe was mortgaged and , under pressure from his creditors , William attempted to sell part of the estate in 1590 . His son , Sir Christopher II , disagreed with this plan to dispose of what he regarded as his inheritance , and the father and son fell out . William threatened to demolish the castle , Christopher appealed to the Privy Council , and the matter went to court in 1593 , a few months before Williams death the same year . Once he had inherited Baconsthorpe , Christopher renovated the inner gatehouse and created a large mere and a formal garden around the south-east side of the castle , although he mainly resided at Saxlingham . Christopher had little interest in business , preferring to engage in military pursuits and to study astrology – he hosted the mathematician Henry Briggs and the astronomer John Bainbridge at Baconsthorpe . Christopher had inherited debts of £11,000 from his father , in addition to his own debts of £3,000 , and was fined £2,000 for his part in Essexs Rebellion of 1601 . His financial situation did not improve and first Baconsthorpe , and then his other estates , had to be mortgaged . 17th – 21st centuries . Baconsthorpe passed to Christophers eldest son Sir William in 1623 , but William died four years later during the Île de Ré expedition , leaving it to his younger brother , Sir John III . John became the Lieutenant General of the Ordnance and , when civil war broke out in 1642 , he fought on the side of King Charles I . In response , Parliament seized his lands and he was declared delinquent in 1646 . He bought his estates back , but began to demolish Baconsthorpe around 1650 in order to sell off the stonework . John died in debt in 1653 , leaving the castle to his son , Charles Heydon , who continued to dispose of the stone : 29 cartloads were sold the following year for £30 , for reuse at Felbrigg Hall . Charles brother , William Heydon III , sold the estate to a Mr Bridges , and then onward to a doctor called Zurishaddai Lang , who lived in the outer gatehouse . The Norfolk landowner John Thruston Mott bought the estate in 1801 , and the gatehouse continued to be occupied until 1920 , when one of the turrets collapsed . Although the mere was still water-filled in 1839 , it was subsequently drained . In 1940 , the castles owner , the politician Sir Charles Mott-Radclyffe , placed the site into the care of the Ministry of Public Works . In the 1950s and 1960s , the site was cleared of ivy and other vegetation , the stonework consolidated and archaeologically surveyed , before being opened to the public . The mere was dredged and reflooded in 1972 , with further archaeological excavations carried out . In the 21st century , Baconsthorpe Castle is managed by English Heritage and protected under UK law as a Grade I and Grade II listed building , and as a scheduled monument . Architecture . Baconsthorpe Castle is located north of Baconthorpe village in a valley formed by the River Glaven , approached on the remains of a raised causeway from the south . The site comprises a moated inner court and mere to the north , with an outer and an outermost court to the south . During the 16th century , the surrounding area would have formed pasture for sheep , although it is now primarily used for arable farming . Outer and outermostcourts . The outer and outermost courts lie progressively to the south of the outer court of the castle . The outermost court currently forms part of a farmyard and is now subdivided by a low wall . A 16th-century barn lines the western edge of the court . The barn is now in size , but was originally possibly up to long , with three sets of large cart doors . The barn was intended both to impress visitors and to symbolize the Heydons lordship of the manor , and the exterior facings of the barn are superior on the south and east sides where they would have been seen by those entering the castle . A row of cottages would originally have faced the barn on the other side of the court . The ruined outer gatehouse that forms the entrance to the outer court was built from expensive knapped flint in a Perpendicular Gothic style . It comprised a gate-passage , with rooms and octagonal turrets on either side and a large chamber on the first floor . When it was converted into a house in the 17th century , the gatehouse was heavily altered : a three-storey porch was added onto the front along with wings on either side , and additional rooms at the back of the building , but the porch was later removed in the early 19th century , when crenellations were added . A wall would originally have run around the outside of the outer court , which was used as a walled garden after the conversion of the gatehouse . Inner court . The inner court rests on a square earth platform across , surrounded by a water-filled moat up to wide . The eastern edge of the moat meets with the 16th-century mere , approximately across , which is fed by two streams and dammed on the eastern side . Beyond the mere there are the remains of a large , dammed pond , across , which may originally have been designed to be a decorative water feature intended to be viewed from the castle . A bridge on the south side links the inner and outer courts ; originally the second half of the bridge formed a protective drawbridge . The inner court is in size , surrounded by an external curtain wall up to tall in places , protected by seven square and circular mural towers . The main entrance was through the southern bridge and the inner gatehouse , but the central north tower also originally held a postern gate , leading to another bridge over the northern edge of the moat , of which only the brick pier foundations survive . The castle was protected with gun loops : six double embrasures to the west of the gatehouse , a gun loop in the north-west square tower , and several larger gun loops in the northern section of the curtain wall . Inside the court , gun loops in the cellar beneath the hall covered the entrance itself . The military-inspired design of the inner court drew on earlier medieval architectural traditions , and was intended to reinforce the Heydons status and symbolise their aspirations to nobility . The inner gatehouse is three storeys high , and like the rest of the inner court , constructed of flint rubble and brick , faced with knapped flint . It has a gate-passage with a two-storey vaulted porch ; two sets of chambers lay on either side of the passage , probably forming living space for the steward and the porter , and the rooms above were fitted with fireplaces , garderobes and a small chapel , to form a set of high quality , luxurious living space , possibly for the Heydons or members of their family . The building could have been defended in the case of an attack . The south-west corner of the inner court held a courtyard house , which was attached to the gatehouse and would have incorporated the castles great hall . The northern part of the court would have probably formed a separate , private garden during the later period . The north-east side of the inner court formed a service court , with kitchens and similar facilities , including a well . The eastern side of the inner court was adapted for the wool industry in the 16th century . This included the construction of a long building along the curtain wall , two storeys high , . This was used for processing wool , with a turnstile at the north end for shearing sheep , and space on the first floor for weavers and finishers ; the southern end may have held a wooden sink for washing wool , or alternatively been a drying floor and granary for the castles brewhouse and bakehouse . The three-storey north-east tower was also later used for processing wool , including fulling . Garden . To the south-east off the inner court are the remaining earthworks of a formal garden on a raised platform , across . The garden had a raised walkway round a square pond , in size .