Caister Castle was built for Sir John Fastolf from 1432 to circa 1446. It was a brick building rectangular in plan, with angle towers. There are three gunports in the north-west tower and several gunports in the curtain wall. The principal remains of the castle are the north-western angle tower of the main building and the north and west adjoining curtain walls. The surrounding moat has been partially filled in. The internal building remains of the main castle block have been determined by the sinking of trail holes by Mr Hamblen-Thomas. The north east outwork of the castle is thought to be older than the main block. It is the only English example of a `Wasserburg', a water-ringed castle common in the Rhineland and Flanders, and it was one of the first major brick built buildings in England. Besieged in 1469.

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Name	Caister Castle
Alternative Names	Caistor
Historic County	Norfolk
Civil Parish	West Caister
Type	Masonry Castle
Confidence	Certain
Remains	Masonry ruins/remnants
Listed	Grade 1
Scheduled Ancient Monument	No
Ordnance Survey Reference	TG504122
Eastings	650480
Northing	312290
Images of England Reference	402085
PastScape Reference	134161
Historic Environment Record	8671

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Books

• Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p45-7
• Liddiard, R., 2000, Landscapes of Lordship (Oxford: BAR 309) p113-5
• Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p56
• Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p155-6
• Rogerson, Andrew, 1994, 'Castles' in Wade-Martins, P, (ed), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (2edn Norwich; Norfolk Museums) p68-9
• Thompson, M.W., 1989, The Decline of the Castle (Cambridge) p80-81
• Kent, Peter, 1988, Fortifications of East Anglia (Lavenham: Ternence Dalton) p175
• King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p306
• Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p198-9
• Wilton, J.W., 1979, Earthworks and Fortifications of Norfolk (Weathercock Press) p25-6
• Davis, N. (ed), 1971, Paston letters and papers of the fifteenth century pt 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
• Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1962, Buildings of England: Norwich and north-east Norfolk (Penguin) p109
• O’Neil, B.H.St.J., 1960, Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England (Oxford: Claredon Press) p30 plate 7
• Brown, A., 1954, English Medieval Castles p131-2
• Tipping, H.A., 1937, English Homes, period 1 Vol2 (London) p307-12
• Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p289-93
• Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p244
• Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p284
• Turner, Dawson, 1842, Sketch of the History of Caister Castle (London)
• Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol4 P10-15

Journals

• Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p320
• Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p215-6
• Slade, H.G., 1980, ‘Caister Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol137 p295-8
• Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Early Gunports' Fort Vol4 p76
• Barnes, H.D. and Simpson, W.Douglas, 1952, 'Caister Castle' Antiquaries Journal Vol32 p35-51
• Barnes, H.D. and Simpson, W.Douglas, 1947-52, 'The Building Accounts of Caister Castle' Norfolk Archaeology Vol30 p178-88
• Barrett, 1896, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol2 p37-47
• Haddon, 1880, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol36 p22-6 [slight]
• Pettigrew, 1858, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol14 p223-37
• 1848, Gentleman's Magazine pt2 p365-9 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030568805