Hugh de Montfort built the castle in the late 11th century, soon after the Norman Conquest gave ambitious men from Normandy the opportunity to impose themselves on the English landscape in stone and earth. The motte-and-bailey design was the standard Norman formula: a raised mound topped with a wooden or stone tower, connected to a defended yard where the garrison and essential buildings were housed. At Haughley, the scale was exceptional. De Montfort became a monk in 1088 and the castle passed through his family. For nearly a century it remained a significant Norman stronghold in Suffolk.

Henry II seized Haughley Castle in 1163, after Henry d'Essex — the castle's holder at the time — was convicted of cowardice during the 1157 Welsh campaign. By the mid-1170s, the castle was held on the king's behalf by Ralph de Broc and a garrison of 30 soldiers. In 1173, during the revolt of Henry II's sons, the situation became dangerous. Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, allied with the rebel Bigods, landed on the East Anglian coast and marched west. He put Haughley under siege. Ralph surrendered, the castle was smoked out, and the revolt eventually failed — but not before the castle had been substantially damaged. Haughley was fully rebuilt afterwards, a Manor House constructed within the inner bailey, and the outer bailey gradually filled with buildings.

The keep tower was still partially standing in 1760, when Richard Ray had the remaining portions removed. What he left were the circular foundations — more than eight feet thick. A major excavation in 2011 cleared the site and revealed extensive foundations and many fragments of intricately carved and dressed stone, evidence of the quality of construction that once stood here. The earthworks themselves are the survivors. After more than 850 years, the motte still rises distinctly from the Suffolk countryside, its proportions intact despite centuries of weather, cultivation, and gradual subsidence. In 2023, Haughley marked the 850th anniversary of the siege with a fair, talks, a book launch, a battle re-enactment, and the lighting of a beacon.

Today Haughley Castle is a scheduled monument, protected as a site of national archaeological importance. It sits about four kilometres northwest of Stowmarket, largely unknown outside local history circles, with a public footpath crossing the site. There are no visitor facilities, no interpretation centre, no cafe. What there is: the motte, the footprint of the bailey, the circular foundations of the keep, and the particular quality of silence that comes from standing on ground where, in 1173, soldiers surrendered and fire was set. The village of Haughley clusters nearby, its church probably once enclosed within the outer bailey. It is one of the better-preserved Norman earthwork castles in England, hidden in plain sight.