Bungay Castle

Bungay Castle stands in the Suffolk town of Bungay beside a bend in the River Waveney. The Normans first built a castle here around 1100 under Roger Bigod, who chose the site for its natural defences. His son Hugh took part in the civil war known as the Anarchy and later built a large square keep in 1165. The castle passed through the Bigod family until Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, added massive gate towers in 1294. After falling into royal hands it became the dower house for Thomas of Brotherton and his daughter Alice Montagu. The castle’s history includes violent episodes recorded by historians such as Sidney Painter. Alice Montagu died in 1352 after an attack by her husband Edward Montagu and his men. In the 18th century the Dukes of Norfolk lost control briefly, and the keep was quarried for road stone. Daniel Bonhôte, a local solicitor, later bought the ruins before they returned to the ducal family in about 1800. Today the curtain walls and twin gatehouse towers still rise above the town. Part of the keep survives as a fragment after centuries of neglect. Excavations led by Leonard Cane in the 1930s guided Hugh Braun’s restoration work. The castle is now owned by the Bungay Castle Trust and protected as a Grade I monument. Its ruined state and the nearby river bend give it a quiet, reflective atmosphere.