Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is south-west of Great Yarmouth and east of Norwich. It is most notable for the Roman Saxon Shore fort also called Burgh Castle.
Parts of the parish is in the area of the Norfolk Broads, and the western and northern boundaries are marked by the River Waveney, River Yare, and by the western part of Breydon Water. At the 2021 census it had a population of 1,323, an increase from 1,150 at the 2011 census. The parish was part of Suffolk until 1974.
Roman fort
thumb|The [[Burgh Castle Roman Site|Roman fort remains from above]]
There is evidence of Neolithic activity in the area, with a number of flint and bronze axe-heads discovered, The fort, which is a possible site for Gariannonum, dates to the third century and was part of the Saxon Shore fortifications designed to protect Roman Britain from invaders. It stands at the top of a slope overlooking the modern River Waveney to the west, but when it was built the fort would have been on the coast, guarding the mouth of a wide estuary.
The surviving north, south, and east walls stand to a height of up to with a width of at the base. The internal dimensions of the fort measure by and six remaining bastions are visible.
There is evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Norman use of the fort. Excavations by Charles Green in the mid-20th century discovered a timber church in the south-west of the fort, with a Christian cemetery attached, and the site is considered a possible location of a Saxon monastery founded by St Fursey in the early 630s. This is recorded with the name Cnobheresburg by Bede, although there is no firm evidence that the site was at Burgh Castle. A motte-and-bailey castle was built at the fort after the Norman Conquest; the remains had been destroyed by the mid-19th century. The site has been owned by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust since 1996, with the walls in the care of English heritage.
Later history
Saxon era field systems have been discovered at Burgh Castle and parts of the parish church date to the late-Saxon or early-Norman period. who may have been responsible for the construction of the motte-and-bailey castle within the Roman fort. During the 19th century at least three brick-making works developed in the parish.
Amenities
Burgh Castle remains a small village. A number of holiday parks have developed in the south of the parish, A boatyard and marina occupy the site of the former Burgh Castle Brickworks on the River Waveney.
St Peter and St Paul's Church
Burgh Castle's parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining round-tower churches. The building is Grade II* listed and incorporates significant amounts of Roman material, almost certainly from the nearby Roman fort.