Chipping Ongar Castle (Chipping Ongar)
Chipping Ongar Castle now consists of a gigantic mound which is almost entirely hidden from public view on private wooded land.
It is situated not far from the town centre of Chipping Ongar in Essex, which it would have dominated.
The mound rises to 48 feet, and the diameter is 230 feet. There is an Inner Bailey, and fragments of an Outer Bailey.
The original fortifications were held in pre-Conquest times by a lady named Ailida, who had a considerable estate in these parts.
After the Conquest, it was extended and developed when the estate was given to Eustace of Boulogne.
In 1162, Richard de Lucy, Justiciar of England under Henry II, built a great fortress here.The castle was demolished in the Elizabethan period, and a brick house built house built on the site, which was itself soon demolished.