The buoys marking the Deben entrance change frequently in both position and name. West Knolls marks one of the moving mounds of shingle and may be retired for a decade or so when the channel shifts to the North.
‘Knoll’ generally refers to a small hill or mound of sand or shingle, sometimes intertidal. They feature on other East Coast river entrances: Backwaters- Crab Knoll; Blackwater – NW Knoll.
West Knolls is a convenient mark to introduce the far more interesting Walton Castle since in 2022 it was nearby.
The castle is best considered firstly as a Roman Fort, then as a Medieval castle, and finally, as a ruin which can help to assess the earlier form of the Deben entrance.
- Roman Fort and later Religious Centre became,
- the Medieval Walton Castle which,
- by the seventeenth century had become The Ruins of Walton Castle.
There is also a curious Ancient Alignment with Thetford Castle that is worthy of mention especially as Thetford Castle also sits on a knoll.
Notes
Questions
Sources
The historical records have been described and analysed in the Suffolk Institute papers by Redstone, Fairclough and Plunkett.
- Volume XXIII Part 2 (1938)_Angulus Anglie A corner of Anglie V B Restone_155 to 164
- Volume XXXIX Part 4 (2000)_Drgs of Walton Castle and others in Walton J
- Volume XLI Part 4 (2008)_Bigods at Walton Hall and their successors J F
- Volume XLII Part 3 (2011)_Felixstowe Roman fort J Fairclough_253 to 276 [/mfn]
Rome’s Saxon Shore: Coastal Defences of Roman Britain AD 250-500: No. 56 (Fortress) : Fields, Nic, Spedaliere, Donato: This is a good discussion of past theories and very well illustrated. It is available online here. The claims about sea level are contentious.
Historic England Saxon Shore Forts also, see Historic England Roman Forts and Fortresses
There is a magazine article with some original observations: Hagar, Julian. ‘Archaeology Today’ 8 No.1 (February 1987).
Roman Roads in Suffolk describes the route to the castle.
Medieval Sourcebook: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), c. 400
HISTORY OF BURGH CASTLE ROMAN FORT
1869 North Sea Pilot East Coast mentions remains and removal of stone from further south at Cobbolds Point, this was Felixstowe Ledge.
Records of names used in W.G.Arnott. The Place-Names of the Deben Valley Parishes. Norman Adlard, 1946.