CASTLE RISING, a village of Norfolk, England, 4 m. N.E. of King's Lynn. Pop. of parish (1921) 236. The Norman castle for which it is famous stands on slightly elevated ground over looking, to the west, the low marshy coast of the Wash. Its site is enclosed by artificial ramparts of earth and a dyke which is crossed by an ancient bridge. The keep is square and massive, and fairly perfect. In some parts, especially the entrance, the Norman carving is very rich. The foundations of a small chapel with apsidal eastern termination have been discovered outside the castle. The village of Castle Rising is the decayed remnant of a town of no little importance. Its church of St. Laurence is late Norman, with rich ornamentation; it shows traces of considerable alterations in the Early English period, but is an admirable example of the earlier style.
In Domesday Book the manor is given as having belonged to Archbishop Stigand, from whom it had passed to Odo of Bayeux, whose estates were confiscated in 1088. Granted to William de Albini, whose son built Rising castle, it passed eventually by sale to Isabel, queen of England, in 1332, remaining in the possession of the crown until Henry VIII. exchanged it for other lands with the duke of Norfolk. A mayor is first mentioned in 1343, and a borough existed in the 15th century. A survey of 1589-1590 de clared that Castle Rising was an ancient borough by prescription. Castle Rising became a parliamentary borough in 1558, but was disfranchised in 1832 and the corporation abolished in 1835, although a mayor was elected for special purposes until 1833. Its fairs and markets were formerly important.