Castle Acre
The Castle that dominates castle acre and gives it its name to the village is inextricably linked with the fortunes of the Norman earls of surrey. Little is known about the site before the Norman conquest, and it is not until the doomsday survey in 1086 that we learnt by then castle acre formed part of the Norfolk estates of William de warrene, one of king Williams most powerful and trusted supporters.
William de warrene’s family home was at Varennes in Normandy; there warrene got to know the young duke William and he and his men formed part of the dukes invasion force in late summer 1066. The Norman triumph at the battle of Hastings meant rich rewards for those who had risked their all in this enterprise.
William de warrene was given and acquired lands in over a dozen countries, and, as an especially trusted supporter of the king, was given the ‘ rape of lawes’ in
Sussex, one of the six divisions of the county of sussex, which straddles one of the main routes from Normandy tot the heart of England.
Lewes was to remain the warrene chief seat and site of what was probably their most powerful castle, but centres of estates elsewhere in England needed a residence to act as focus and protection, to be the seat of rent collation and to provide accommodation suitable for a magnate of the realm and his retinue in surrey, Conisbrough in Yorkshire and here at castle acre. The first William de warrene led a busy and cosmopolitan life in England and on the continent. Ultimately becoming king William’s chief justiciar. In may 1085 his wife Gundrada died in childbirth at castle acre; three years later, warrene was created earl of surrey, but died shortly after from wounds sustained at the siege of Prevensy Castle. His son, another William, became one of Henry 1st most loyal supporters, serving the king in a number of administrative and military capacities on both sides of the channel, as well as being a great benafactor of the church. His son, the third earl, succeeded to the title in 1138.
He took part in the second crusade and was killed by the Turks in 1147/8, leaving all his estates to his daughter, Isabel. It is probably to these first three earls that the earthworks of castle acre castle owe their existing plan; certainly the surviving work in the upper ward dates from there time.
Isabel, heiress to considerable estates, was not left single for to long, marrying William of Blois, a younger son of king Stephen. He died in 1159, and in 1163 she married the illagitamate half-brother of Henry the 2nd, Hamelin Plantagent, who held the earldon until his death in 1202, and whose most notable contribution to castle-building is the keep at Conisburgh in Yorkshire. Hamelin and Isabel’s son, William, held the tittle of sixth earl of surrey from 1292 until his death in 1240. Henry the 3rd is known to have visited him several times at castle acre, most likely while on a pilgrimage to Walsingham.
To the end of the direct line in 1347, the Warrene earls continued to play an important part in national affairs, leaving perhaps little time to spend at castle acre. When the sixth earl dies in 1240 his son John, was made a royal ward ( under the protection of the royal family) and in 1247, while still a minor, was married to Henry the 3rd half sister, Alesia de Lisignun. John de Warrene spent much of his time in the saddle on military campaigns and diplomatic missions, leaving him little time to enjoy his nolfolk estates, but he is known to have entertained Edward 1st several times at castle acre between 1292 and 1301..
In 1304, john was succeeded by his grandson, another john and last of the Warrene earls of Surrey. HI first marriage to Joan of Bar, the King’s niece, was not happy