Gresham Castle Gresham Castle is located south of the village of Gresham in the north of the English county of Norfolk . The medieval castle was actually a fortified manor house . Permission by license to crenellate his manor house was gained by Sir Edmund Bacon in 1318 . Gresham was one of a group of late castles to be fortified or built along the east coast that include Baconsthorpe , Caister , Claxton and Mettingham Castle in Suffolk . Description . The castle is situated in a green field site close to the village . It is rectangular in shape with a bulbous protrusion at the north - west corner . A moat surrounding the site is twelve to fifteen feet wide at points and still contains water which can restrict access to the site . The waters of the moat were once supplied from Gur Beck which now has been re - directed and runs approximately 50 meters adjacent to the remains of the castle . The central platform is approximately 2378 square meters ( 2844 square yards ) in area , with round towers 35 feet in diameter . It is very overgrown with trees , bushes and brambles , making an overview of the castle very difficult . The tower that stood at the south - east angle is forward of the platform line . The revetment s of the two corner towers on the west elevation can be seen , of which one is much larger than the other . Between them part of the curtain wall still stands to about six feet . The footprint of the site indicates that there were towers on the east side as well , with the one at the north west angle being the size of a keep . Large timbers , presumed to be what remained of a drawbridge , an entrance to a passage , and the keel of a boat were discovered when the surrounding moat was cleaned out in 1846 . History . In 1427 the castle and manor of Gresham was purchased by the lawyer William Paston to add to his already large property holdings in Norfolk . Paston purchased the castle and manor from Thomas Chaucer of Ewelme and Sir William Moleyns , who each owned half of the property . However , the legality of the purchase was challenged by the Wiltshire peer , Robert Hungerford , Lord Moleyns , 2nd Baron Hungerford . Consequently when William Paston died he left a large and valuable inheritance including Gresham Castle to his son John Paston . Lord Moleyns ' longstanding claim to half of the property was encouraged by John Paston ’ s bitter rival John Haydon of nearby Baconsthorpe Castle . On 17 February 1448 forces led by Lord Moleyns took direct action and entered the fortified manor house and began to collect rent from the tenants of the manor . After these actions , John Paston petitioned the king , and after his appeals Paston reclaimed his property on 6 October . On 28 January , Moleyns with a force of a one thousand men made up of some locals and retainers from Wiltshire , occupied the castle once more this time forcible evicting John Paston ’ s wife Margaret and twelve of her servants . A lieutenant of Moleyns by the name of Partridge was left to barricade the castle against any attempt by Paston to reclaim his property . In the Paston Letters Margaret explains to her husband John < br > One year later John Paston reclaimed the castle and manor , this time with no resistance . He found that the castle was in a very poor state and unfit for habitation . In 1466 John Paston died leaving his estate which included Gresham to his eldest son , also called John . In 1471 Sir John Gresham contemplated the rebuilding of Gresham Castle and sent his brother , also , strangely , called John , to survey the site and draw up plans for a rebuilding . In the event no rebuilding was carried out and the site was abandoned .