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The slopes of Norwich's castle mound were built to be so steep and forbidding that they offered a refuge from any attack. A thousand years on and they are performing the same task - not for Norman aristocracy but for rats. The unkempt hill around the castle has become home to a growing population of the rodents, from where they are able to maraud into the city beyond.
The issue arose at a recent meeting of the Norfolk Joint Museums Committee where the 'feral' state of the slopes around the castle was raised. Dr Robin Hanley (Image: Denise Bradley) Dr Robin Hanley, assistant head of museums at Norfolk Museums Service, acknowledged officials were aware that a population of rats had taken up home there. But, with a drive to increase the biodiversity on the mound, the rodents are being left to their own devices, even though the city has suffered from a rise in rat infestations in recent years.
With the opening date for the multi-million-pound revamp of Norwich Castle's keep approaching , Saul Penfold, Liberal Democrat county councillor, questioned the maintenance of the mound, asking what measures were in place to manage it. Liberal Democrat councillor Saul Penfold (Image: Saul Penfold) "It is an interesting green space for wildlife, plants, flowers and biodiversity," he said. "How is it managed, or is just feral, or wild, as it were?" Dr Hanley replied: "It is not left feral, you will be pleased to hear.
"The responsibility for the care and maintenance of the mound sits with Norwich City Council. We work very closely with colleagues at the city council. "Members of the city council team schedule regular cuts of the mound.
"There was a recent cut of the mound, which is a really complicated, challenging, task, mindful of the angle of the slope that the workers have to deal with." The revamp of the keep is almost complete and it is due to reopen in the summer, attracting tens of thousands more visitors each year. Work on the keep revamp started in 2020 (Image: Norfolk Museums Service) Dr Hanley said, as part of the Royal Palace Reborn Project, which has seen the keep restored to how it would have looked in Norman times, a biodiversity policy for the mound had been produced.
He said: "We have been working with colleagues from the city, including the installation of various bird boxes and insect houses to try to encourage biodiversity. The mound at the castle is home to wildlife including rats (Image: Newsquest) "But, to be honest, it seems to cope quite well on its own. There's a healthy rat population, but we have also had sightings, extraordinarily, of deer on the castle mound.
"Considering its location right in the centre of the city, that shows what a special place it is. "It's very well cared for. We do manage it very carefully and it's a really good partnership with the city council.
" READ MORE: Norwich Castle Meadow revamp call as keep set to reopen Pest controllers say recent years have seen an increase in the country's rodent population . They said that part of the problem is that rats are becoming used to bait which is put out domestically or professionally. Norwich City Council was not able to confirm whether it took any additional action to deal with the castle mound rats, other than the regular maintenance cuts.
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