Burgh Castle

Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is Template:Convert south-west of Great Yarmouth and Template:Convert east of Norwich. It is most notable for the Roman Saxon Shore fort also called Burgh Castle.

Parts of the parish is in the area of the Norfolk Broads, and the western and northern boundaries are marked by the River Waveney, River Yare, and by the western part of Breydon Water. At the 2021 census it had a population of 1,323, an increase from 1,150 at the 2011 census.<ref>Burgh Castle, City Population. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> The parish was part of Suffolk until 1974.<ref name=nhe>Spooner S (2005) Parish Summary: Burgh Castle, Norfolk Hertiage Explorer. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

Roman fort

The Roman fort remains from above

There is evidence of Neolithic activity in the area, with a number of flint and bronze axe-heads discovered,<ref name=nhe/> but the Roman fortification of Burgh Castle is the earliest settlement known within the parish.<ref name=nhe/><ref name=bescoby>Bescoby D (2016) Burgh Castle Roman Fort: Life outside the walls – the geophysical survey. (Available online at the Norfolk Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 7 October 2025.)</ref> The fort, which is a possible site for Gariannonum, dates to the third century and was part of the Saxon Shore fortifications designed to protect Roman Britain from invaders.<ref name=nhefort>Burgh Castle, or Gariannonum/Gariannum, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> It stands at the top of a slope overlooking the modern River Waveney to the west, but when it was built the fort would have been on the coast, guarding the mouth of a wide estuary.<ref name=hehistory>History of Burgh Castle Romen Ford, English Heritage. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref><ref name=nat>A short history of Burgh Castle Roman Fort, Norfolk Archaeology Trust. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

The surviving north, south, and east walls stand to a height of up to Template:Convert with a width of Template:Convert at the base. The internal dimensions of the fort measure Template:Convert by Template:Convert and six remaining bastions are visible.<ref name=nhefort/> A probable Roman vicus and field systems are outside the walls.<ref name=nhe/><ref name=bescoby/><ref name=nat/> Material from the walls of the fort has been used in the parish church.<ref name=nhechurch>St Peter and St Paul's Church, Burgh Castle, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

There is evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Norman use of the fort. Excavations by Charles Green in the mid-20th century discovered a timber church in the south-west of the fort, with a Christian cemetery attached, and the site is considered a possible location of a Saxon monastery founded by St Fursey in the early 630s. This is recorded with the name Cnobheresburg by Bede, although there is no firm evidence that the site was at Burgh Castle.<ref name=nhe/><ref name=hehistory/><ref name=nat/><ref>Johnson S (1983) Burgh Castle: Excavations by Charles Green 1958–61, East Anglian Archaeology Report No. 20. (Available online at East Anglian Archaeology. Retrieved 7 October 2025.)</ref> A motte-and-bailey castle was built at the fort after the Norman Conquest; the remains had been destroyed by the mid-19th century.<ref name=nat/><ref name=nhefort/>

The site is a scheduled monument, with the walls designated as a Grade I listed building.<ref>Burgh Castle Roman fort, vicus, pre-Conquest monastery and Norman motte and bailey castle, Historic England. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref><ref>Gariannonum Roman Fort, Historic England. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> The site has been owned by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust since 1996, with the walls in the care of English heritage.<ref name=nat/> It is open free of charge to visitors.<ref>Burgh Castle Roman Ford, English Heritage. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

Later history

Saxon era field systems have been discovered at Burgh Castle and parts of the parish church date to the late-Saxon or early-Norman period.<ref name=nhe/><ref name=bescoby/> Prior to the Norman Conquest, the manor was held by Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the Domesday Book it is recorded as a settlement of 15 households in the hundred of Lothingland with a church, five plough teams, and three salthouses. It formed part of the estates of Ralph the Bowman<ref name=opendd>Powell-Smith A Burgh (Castle), Open Domesday. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> who may have been responsible for the construction of the motte-and-bailey castle within the Roman fort.<ref name=nhe/> Salt was harvested from a number of salt pans, and this is likely to have remained an important industry within the village into the medieval period along with the harvesting of reeds and osiers. Mills were later used to drain marshland, allowing the use of the land next to the rivers for agriculture.<ref name=nhe/>

A medieval manor house is known to have been built, but the site is unknown. St Peter’s Guildhall was rebuilt in 1548 after a fire; the building was demolished in the 19th century.<ref name=nhe/><ref>Site of St Peter's Guildhall, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> During the 19th century at least three brick making works developed in the parish.<ref name=nhe/><ref name=bricks>Site of Burgh Castle Brick and Cement Works, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

Amenities

Burgh Castle remains a small village. A number of holiday parks have developed in the south of the parish,<ref name=nhe/> and there are two public houses in the parish as well as other facilities in the holiday parks.<ref>Burgh Castle, Norfolk Broads Direct. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref><ref>Pubs and clubs around Burgh Castle, CAMRA. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> A boatyard and marina occupy the site of the former Burgh Castle Brickworks on the River Waveney.<ref name=bricks/><ref>Burgh Castle Marina, National Historic Ships. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref>

St Peter and St Paul's Church

Burgh Castle's parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining round-tower churches.<ref name=nhechurch/><ref name=rtc>Burgh Castle St Peter & St Paul, The Round Tower Churches of Europe. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> The building is Grade II* listed<ref name=churchlist>Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Historic England. Retrieved 7 October 2025.</ref> and incorporates significant amounts of Roman material, almost certainly from the nearby Roman fort.<ref name=nhechurch/> Parts of the tower and possibly parts of the nave date from the late-11th century, with the bulk of the building being 13th century. It was remodelled in the 15th century with additions in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref name=churchlist/> The octagonal baptismal font is medieval in date and a stained glass window in the church depicts St Fursey.<ref name=churchlist/><ref name=rtc/>

External links

• Gariannum Roman Fort, Roman-Britain.co.uk
• Burgh Castle fort at Norfolk Archaeological Trust
• Burgh Castle at English Heritage
• Burgh Castle at genuki.org.uk
• St Peter's and St Paul's on the European Round Tower Churches Website