Source 1: Framlingham Castle demolished, 1175

In 1175 a group of carpenters and masons, led by Alnoth the engineer, travelled Suffolk to dismantle Framlingham Castle on royal orders. King Henry II ordered the castle to be knocked down because Earl Hugh Bigod had rebelled against the Crown.

Framlingham Castle, demolished 1175, Pipe Rolls, Henry II, 22, 1175-1176, p. 60 (catalogue reference: E372/22, rot. 5, m.1)


Transcript

Et in custamento prosternendi castri Waleton’ .XXXj. l. et .viij. s. et. iij. d. per breve regis et per visum Roberti de Willauesham et Ailnođi ingeniatoris. Et pro prosternendo castro de Framingeham .vij. l. et .x. s. et. vj. d. per idem breve et per visum  predictorum.


Simplified translation

Payment of £7 10s 6d (seven pounds, ten shillings and six pence) to Alnoth the engineer for dismantling the castle of Framlingham by order of the king.

 

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Question

  • Castles were an important part of the medieval world, but represented different things to different people. Do you think this order would have changed Alnoth’s opinion of castles?