Last month, I read with interest that Norwich Castle had reopened after five years of restoration work. While exploring Norwich virtually these past few months as part of the residency, this was the landmark I had homed in on. Given that I had planned to include a castle in a YA novel I am working on, why not “adopt” this one as a muse of sorts?

The first few stories I was introduced to as a child were fairytales, and almost all of them involved castles. They have become my default visual cues for stories with happily-ever-after endings, usually involving a princess and a prince riding on a horse towards their glistening abode in the horizon.

With its creamy limestone façade, the 958-year-old medieval Norwich Castle standing at 89 feet tall ticks the boxes in appearing “storybook-appropriate”. However, as I’ve learned along the way, its story is far from fairytale-like.

Norwich Castle was ordered to be constructed by William the Conqueror in 1067 after the Normans successfully invaded England. Around 98 houses had to be demolished in order to build this castle on a hilly mound. It was one of the many castles built during this period to assert Norman power and boost its military fortification.

Already, its power-hungry origins story throws me off a little. Castles, to me, have always been more like luxurious homes for posh royal folk. This affronting reminder that they are often sites of power struggles makes me regard Norwich Castle in a less romantic light.

By the 14^th century, Norwich Castle had not just gone through a few battles and rebellions but was now a county goal that held trials and held prisoners within its walls. Seventeen murderers executed at Norwich Castle are still buried within the boundaries of the castle today. There is a stone artefact carved by a prisoner from the 13/14^th century that simply states, “Bartholomew, truly wrongfully and without reason, I am shut in this prison.” Norwich Castle is used as a prison for the next 500 years.

I am somewhat disturbed by this oppressive turn. My discoveries about Norwich Castle inevitably affect the way the castle in my story is being portrayed. Initially, I had regarded it as a fantastical escapist sanctuary for my burnt-out protagonist, but along the way, I’ve thrown in a gnarly dose of royal politics and a mysterious intruder that immediately gets imprisoned for suspicious behaviour.

In the 19^th century, Norwich Castle became a museum and has remained one ever since. This seems much more respectable and demure, even if it is still housing plenty of historical baggage. As someone who has always enjoyed history, I am most comfortable with this permutation. It is the one place I imagine spending the most time at should I ever visit Norwich in person one day. With its £27 million revamp, I can now explore all its five reinstated floors with over 900 artefacts to my heart’s content and hopefully uncover more inspiring stories within while getting to know Norwich better. I am especially looking forward to visiting the Great Hall, which is now showing immersive projections on what life was like during the Medieval period.

I hope to visit Norwich Castle on a cloudy weekday, so there won’t be too much of a crowd. I hear it’s a popular destination since it re-opened, receiving around 1,500 visitors a day. When I reach there, I would thank it, for being an unlikely virtual writing companion who has enlightened me, through its hundreds of years of experience, to the ambition, folly, creativity, cruelty and beauty that is human nature. There might still be a tiny part of me imagining that a princess might be having tea at its new glass atrium though.

Melanie Lee

Melanie Lee is the author of the award-winning graphic novel series Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma and the picture book series The Adventures of Squirky the Alien. She is also a part-time lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, where she develops and teaches communication and children’s literature courses.