Castle Rising's is named after the Norman castle of the same name. In the
Domesday Book it is listed as a settlement of 41 households in the
hundred of Freebridge and was part of the estates of
Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
Castle Rising Castle was built in the 1140s on the orders of
William d'Aubigny and was most famously the residence of
Queen Isabella after her role in the murder of
Edward II. The castle was subsequently passed to
Edward the Black Prince and, today, the site is managed by
English Heritage. Before the
Reform Act of 1832,
Castle Rising was a
parliamentary borough. Due to its small population, it is often given as an example of a
rotten borough.
Samuel Pepys was the member of parliament for the constituency of Castle Rising between 1673 and 1679, as was
Robert Walpole between 1701 and 1702. ==St Lawrence's Church==