Wisbech Castle was an 11th-century fortification, built by the Normans to control the inland port in Cambridgeshire. Originally formed from timber and earthworks, it was later rebuilt in stone, and became a residence for the bishops of Ely, who used it to house their legal courts and imprison offenders.
In the late-15th century, the medieval castle was pulled down and a palace for the bishops built in brick in its place. This survived until 1656, when John Thurloe built a new house on the site, in the style of Inigo Jones. In 1816, that too was demolished, and Joseph Medworth constructed the building that now survives, still called Wisbech Castle. It is controlled by the Wisbech Town Council, and open to visitors.
History
11th-14th centuries
In the early 11th century, Wisbech was an inland port in the Fens, linked by the River Ouse to the east coast of England, then approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) away. The village had a market – the “Old Market” – positioned on the west side of the Nene, which formed a regional centre for the export of agricultural goods from the Isle of Ely, and was probably managed from the manor house at Barton.
It is uncertain when Wisbech Castle was built; it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the document rarely covers fortifications. One option is that Wisbech Castle was constructed after the Norman invasion of 1066, possibly by William the Conqueror around 1072, following the surrender of Hereward the Wake, who had held out on the Isle in resistance to Norman rule. Alternatively, it may date from later in the century, for example 1097.
The first castle was probably built from timber and earthworks, enclosing around 4 acres (1.6 hectares) with a roughly oval shape. It had a substantial moat, approximately 40 ft (12 m) wide, probably fed from the River Nene. It was strategically located on the east bank of the confluence of the River Nene and the Well Stream (then carrying the RIver Ouse), commanding the estuary and therefore the port. The construction of the Norman castle and a new church was quickly followed by the founding of “New Market” just to the north of the castle. The settlement refocused around this new commercial and governmental centre.
During the 12th century, the castle was rebuilt in stone, with the timber ramparts replaced with substantial, ragstone walls. Based on contemporary illustrations on seals, fragmentary accounts and the geography of the site, the historian Trevor Bevis suggests gatehouses on both the west and east ends of the castle, flanked by round towers, and two mural towers along the walls, with a circular keep on the motte on the north-west side of the bailey. The south-east gatehouse was called Elm Gate, and landowners in Castle Ward within the town had a responsibility to maintain it.
The town of Wisbech became an increasing centre for commercial trade during the 13th century. By 1215, Wisbech Castle was in the control of the bishops of Ely. For some years it remained in use by visiting royalty – King John stayed there in 1216, shortly before his death in the First Barons’ War, and Edward I visited four times during his reign. But by the late 13th century it was primarily used to hosting the bishops’ law courts, and as a prison. Some of the prisoners were high status, including Elizabeth de Burgh – the wife of Robert the Bruce – and Robert Wishard, the Bishop of Glasgow, who were imprisoned there at the start of the 14th century during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
The castle was managed by its constable, who controlled the fortification, the prisoners, and the operation of the episcopal courts. The constable was paid 20 marks a year for this role (approximately £13),1It is difficult to accurately compare medieval financial figures with modern equivalents. See our article on medieval money for more details. and was given accommodation in the form of a hall by the gates, access to the castle kitchen and stabling for three horses.
Despite Wisbech’s sea defences, flooding was common. In 1236, the castle and town was apparently badly damaged by a major flood, which substantial reconstruction. The medieval chronicle, Flores Historiarum, recorded the incident at the time:
“But on the morrow of the blessed Martin (November 12th)…the waves of the sea flooded in, transgressing their accustomed limits, so that in the confines of that same sea, and in the marsh, as at Wisbech and in similar small places, small boats, herds, and also a great multitude of men perished.” (The Flores Historiarum)
The amount of damage to the castle may have been overstated at the time: by 1246, the constable recorded as in residence in the castle, suggesting some immediate repairs had taken place, although Wisbech itself took many decades to recover from the disaster.
15th – 19th centuries
By the late 15th century, the medieval castle was increasingly ruinous. It was pulled down by Cardinal Morton, the then Bishop of Ely, between 1473 and 1478, and a new palace for the bishops built on the same site. This castle was constructed from red brick, with dressing of Ketton limestone. His successor, Bishop Alcock, expanded the site, which contemporaries said resembled Haddon Hall, including a great hall, other large buildings positioned on a high terrace, gardens and a fish pond.
In the unstable period following the death of Henry VIII, Robert Dudley used the castle as his headquarters while he mobilised support for Lady Jane Grey during her attempt to claim the throne. When this failed, Queen Mary sent officers to take control of the castle in 1553, with orders to help manage the political tensions running across the region. The town became incorporated in the middle of the century, but remained small, roughly half the size of nearby Cambridge, for example.
Wisbech Castle continued to be used as a residence by the bishops and, during Elizabeth I’s reign, Roman Catholic recusants were imprisoned in the there. By the early 17th century, however, the property needed substantial repairs. Bishop Andrewes spent £2,000 on repairs, and Bishop White further sums in the years before the English Civil War. By now, much of the moat had been infilled.
During the English Civil War of the 1640s, Wisbech and its castle were held by Parliament. Oliver Cromwell, then Governor of the Isle of Ely, ordered the castle to be pulled down, to prevent it being used by his Royalist opponents, but his orders were not carried out. Instead, in 1643, the ironwork of the castle’s drawbridge was repaired at a cost of £11.
In 1656, during the Interregnum, John Thurloe – the Secretary to the Commonwealth Government – acquired the manor of Wisbech and demolished the palace. He replaced it with a more fashionable building, probably designed by John Webb, a pupil of Inigo Jones; the famous diarist Samuel Pepys described it in 1663 as a “fine house built on the church ground”. With the return of Charles II to the throne, the castle was taken back into the ownership of the bishops of Ely. They ceased to use it as a residence, and instead began to rent it out to local dignitaries, such as the Southwell family, who were renting the property for £30 a year in 1778.
The castle was sold on in 1792 by Bishop Yorke to Joseph Medworth, a local builder who had prospered in London, for a total of £2,245. Medworth attempted to sell the castle to the town council for £2,000 as part of a wider plan to redevelop Wisbech, but the authorities declined, citing a lack of funds. Instead, Medworth pulled down the 17th-century house and built a new, smaller building, also called Wisbech Castle, in 1816, surrounded by an estate of new Georgian houses. The last part of the castle moat was probably filled in around 1800.
20th-21st centuries
In 2018, the site was transferred from the control of Cambridgeshire County Council to Wisbech Town Council, as part of a plan to maintain the property and open it to the public. Various small-scale archaeological excavations have taken place. In the 1950s, excavations uncovered the medieval castle wall and moat. Between 2009 and 2010, work uncovered earlier Anglo-Saxon defences, parts of the 16th-century palace, and the medieval castle ditches. The brick vaults of the castle still remain, and can be seen by visitors.
Visiting the castle
Bibliography
- Bevis, Trevor A. (1969) The Fens and West Norfolk: Selected Places of Interest, Incorporating a History of Wisbech Castles. Self-published: March, UK.
- Fletcher, T. (2010) ‘Wisbech, Wisbech Castle’ in ‘Fieldwork in Cambridgeshire 2009’, Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Volume 99.
- Fletcher, T. (2010) Archaeological Investigations at Wisbech Castle: A Community Archaeology Project. Oxford Archaeology: Oxford, UK.
- Fletchter, T. (2010) Evidence of Early Castle Defences at 4 Ely Place, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Oxford Archaeology: Oxford, UK.
- Pugh, R. B. (ed) (2002) A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4, City of Ely; Ely, North and South Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds. Victoria County History, London, UK.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Images on this page include those from the Geograph website, as of 19 August 2023, and are attributed and licensed as follow: “Wisbech Castle“, author Richard Croft, released under CC BY-SA 2.0; “Entrance to Castle“, author Dave Hitchborne, released under CC BY-SA 2.0.