Stansted Mountfitchet Castle

Stansted Mountfitchet Castle
Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England
The entrance to the castle
Stansted Mountfitchet Castle
Coordinates 51°54′10″N 0°12′03″E / 51.9029°N 0.2007°E / 51.9029; 0.2007Coordinates: 51°54′10″N 0°12′03″E / 51.9029°N 0.2007°E / 51.9029; 0.2007
Grid reference grid reference TL515250
Site information
Open to
the public		 Yes
Site history
Materials Stone and timber

Stansted Mountfitchet Castle, also termed simply Mountfitchet Castle, is a Norman ringwork and bailey fortification in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England. The site is currently in use as a Living history museum, complete with livestock that would have been kept by people during the period that the castle was in use.

History

Reconstructed interior of the castle with free ranging chickens

The castle was built following the Norman conquest of England by the Mountfitchet family.[1] It was constructed on high ground with a ringwork defence, enclosing around 0.5 acres (0.20 ha), and a bailey complex, enclosing 1 acre (0.40 ha) on slightly lower ground.[2] Within the ringwork was a keep, within a small, round enclosure.[2]

In the 1980s the castle was reconstructed as a tourist attraction.[1] Although efforts were made during the reconstruction to protect the original features of the castle, the transformation and subsequent tourist numbers have caused damage to the site.[3]

In 2013, one of the castle's cockerels, a Light Brahma named 'Little John', was nominated for the world record for tallest chicken, standing at 66 centimetres tall.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Pettifer, p.74.
  2. 1 2 'Stansted Mountfitchet', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 1: North West (1916), pp. 275-280. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=122476 Date accessed: 5 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Blockley, p.17.
  4. ↑ World's tallest cockerel reared on popcorn, The Telegraph

Bibliography

  • Blockley, Marion (1999). "Archaeological Reconstructions and the Community in the UK". In Planel, Philippe; Stone, Peter G. The Constructed Past: Experimental Archaeology, Education and the Public. London, UK: Routledge. pp. 15–32. ISBN 9780203205822.
  • Pettifer, Adrian (1995). English Castles: a Guide by Counties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 9780851157825.
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