England · Partial ruin
Gresham Castle
Gresham Castle is a medieval fortified manor house site south of the village of Gresham in Norfolk, England. Licensed to be crenellated in 1318, it passed through several owners in the 15th century and was later abandoned and left to decay. The site today survives as an overgrown rectangular earth-and-stone platform surrounded by a water-filled moat with fragmentary tower revetments and low curtain wall remains.
First raised
1318
Its prime
1318
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1318
The shape it held in its prime.
Rectangular fortified manor platform set within a broad water-filled moat, with a pronounced rounded projection at the north-west corner suggesting a large tower or keep. Round towers roughly 35 feet in diameter stood at angles; the west side shows the revetments of two unequal corner towers and a short stretch of curtain wall rising only a few feet. The south-east tower projects forward of the platform line. In prime condition the moat is full, the curtain walls reach battlement height, and trees have not yet overgrown the interior.
Its story
The story of Gresham Castle.
Sir Edmund Bacon received a licence to crenellate his manor house at Gresham in 1318, making it one of a group of late castles fortified or built along the east coast alongside Baconsthorpe, Caister, Claxton and Mettingham. The result was a rectangular moated platform with round towers 35 feet in diameter, its waters fed from Gur Beck.
In 1427 the lawyer William Paston bought the castle and manor from Thomas Chaucer of Ewelme and Sir William Moleyns, who each owned half, adding to his already large Norfolk holdings. The purchase was challenged by Robert Hungerford, Lord Moleyns, encouraged by Paston's bitter rival John Haydon of Baconsthorpe Castle; on 17 February 1448 Lord Moleyns' forces entered the fortified manor house and began collecting rent from the tenants, driving John Paston to petition the king.
Later abandoned and left to decay, the site survives as an overgrown platform of roughly 2,844 square yards ringed by a water-filled moat 12–15 feet wide. The revetments of the two western corner towers and a stretch of curtain wall can still be traced among the trees and brambles.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1318.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Gresham Castle — including 2 interiors: base of the large north-west tower (keep), south-east angle tower projecting forward of the platform. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Gresham Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1318 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Gresham Castle.
The families that held Gresham Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Bacon
Sir Edmund Bacon held the manor and obtained the licence to crenellate of 1318 that created the castle.
Paston
Bought by the lawyer William Paston in 1427 and left to his son John, whose possession Lord Moleyns' men violently contested in 1448.
