This website is to generate awareness
and to invite the public to contribute information to add to Castle Risings
rich and interesting history. The village and Castle is seated on the edge
of the fenland basin in an area known as the Wash in North-West Norfolk,
near the historic town of King's Lynn.
Bordering on
Castle Risings parish boundaries is the famous Sandringham Estate where the
Queen take up residence from time to time and where Princess Diana spent
most of her childhood, yearly events also include the famous Sandringham
flower and craft show. Castle Rising also boasts one of the finest, best
preserved Norman castles in the Country where Queen Isabella spent her time
in exile in the 14th century.
Castle Rising
also minted its own coins struck during the the reign of King Stephen in
1138 A.D. The other main attraction in the village is the famous Trinity
Hospital founded by the Earl of Northampton in 1614. Legends also suggest an
ancient port here before King's Lynn which was possibly shared by the
deserted medieval village of Babingley with the ruined church of St. Felix
its only surviving building. Babingley is also the suggested landing place
where the Saxons spread the word of Christianity to the East Angles (East
Anglia) in approximately 630 A.D.
The Castle
Rising History Group has been meeting for more than five years and currently consists of ten members. We usually meet
at least once a month to discuss our research on various topics. It is our
aim to initially record our findings and present them in an academic
format. At some point in the very near future we should have enough
researched material to be able to collate and edit all the information and
hopefully produce an interesting book for everyone to enjoy. The edited
version will hopefully open a window into
everyday village life, spanning a period of at least a thousand years or
more.
