Freckenham

Many books about Suffolk have included references to a supposed castle at Freckenham, but at the end of the day its origins arc shrouded in the mists of time. Stories connected with Freckenham have included Hereward the Wake and Abbot Baldwin of Bury St Edmunds Abbey - all of them, Fm afraid, untrue.

Freckenham probably got its name from Frece-na, the Saxon for ‘the home of the strong man and warriors’. Before the draining of the fens (which are now some 33 feet (lOm) lower than the village) it was a semi-port which may have been home to a platoon of soldiers in Roman times. The Lee Brook was navigable by shallow-bottomed fishing boats up to around 1600, possibly even as far as the village garage.

In the grounds of Freckenham Manor is a manmade mound of chalk and earth, which rises 42 feet (13 m) in height. It belongs to the Saxon period.

There are no visible remains on the site and as far as I have been able to ascertain no archaeological work has been carried out.

There are two theories as to its fate. The first is that it was attacked and destroyed in the reign of Ethelred ‘the unready’ (978-1016) by Sweyn Fork-beard with considerable bloodshed. The second is that it was destroyed by Sweyn’s son Cnut (who was to become king in 1016). Whatever happened, it was certainly no longer in use by the time of the Norman conquest. There is no evidence that it was ever reused after that date.

On this site was built a residence for the Bishops of Rochester, who held it at Domesday. It would have been fortified in some way. It is said that a subterranean passage was built from the motte to the hall which was big enough for ‘a coach and horses to gallop at full pace’. However, this is local legend and no trace can now be found.

Strictly speaking, Freckenham did not have a castle as such, just a fortified mound. Sorry Freckenham!