Snowy Castle Hedingham

This page is just a bit of an indulgence, really; the village is very picturesque in the snow (especially if the snow reduces the number of cars...). I took most of these pictures several years ago. Click on any of the pictures for enlargements.

I took this picture from the top of the keep when I worked at Hedingham Castle. Unfortunately, the public aren't allowed onto the roof, for safety reasons – the view is amazing. It is interesting to compare this fairly recent picture to an old postcard of just over a century ago.

From memory, I think that this photo of the keep was taken on the same day, in December 1999. Since I uploaded it to the Wikipedia page about Hedingham Castle this picture has been used on a lot of websites and even (with my permission) a book (which is an excellent read, by the way), but it's mine. Honest.

This is the mansion at Hedingham Castle. It is located on the old inner bailey, and is connected to the ringwork by a Tudor bridge which can just be made out at the bottom of this picture, slightly to the right. The house dates from the early 18th Century.

This is St Nicholas Church – follow the link in the navigation panel to the left for more information. This picture it not one of mine; it was taken by Maurice Stockill, a former resident, in 1990.

The large, C18th house in the foreground is Augusta House, once used as a school. The pink building (now repainted) above it is The Bell, an inn dating back to the C15th. The mediaeval ditch surrounding the village ran directly behind the line of houses which follow St James Street diagonally from middle right to top left in this picture, which was taken from the top of the church tower.

This picture was taken from the same spot. The prominent position of the keep is obvious from the top of the tower. The row of houses in the foreground line Church Ponds, so named because the ditch defending the castle's outer bailey ran parallel to it, and formed mucky ponds which were later used to provide the daub used in housebuilding.

And this is Church Ponds from ground level.