A better class of dereliction

After a morning’s work I should’ve caught up on my paperwork before the holidays; and last night’s deluge of rain exposed a leaky gutter which needs repairing; but the sun was out and this being the last official Derelict Thursday challenge, how better to begin than with a dereliction of duty? So out with the bicycle. There is still quite a chill in the air and I keep forgetting to wear something windproof - half a mile up the road I was feeling it, but couldn’t be bothered to turn around.


I have blipped Baconsthorpe Castle before. Definitely a better class of ruin.The gatehouse of Baconsthorpe Castle was built in the 1450s by John Heydon, a local bigwig who amassed great wealth but was known to be crafty and quarrelsome. During the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) he often switched sides to suit his personal fortunes. The gatehouse was fortified and could serve as a keep when under threat which was probably just as well.
The lower rooms housed a chief porter and butler while the rooms above were described by John's son, Sir Henry, as luxuriously furnished with feather beds and silk curtains.
The Heydon family made pots of money in the wool trade during the sixteenth century and went on to build a wool processing plant on site, surrounding the entire edifice with a moat and adding parkland and ornamental gardens. Subsequent heirs eventually blew the wealth on wild and extravagant living. Today the ruins belong to English Heritage and they have preserved it in its pleasantly dilapidated state...

Many thanks to SarumStroller, Freespiral and Himself for their efforts in setting up the challenge and keeping it going. Let's hope sometime it will rise again...maybe in the autumn?