The historian Jacqueline Cooper, however, thinks it more likely that "waite" is a corruption of "thwaite", taken from an Old Norse word which means "forest clearing".

Norman built, or Saxon, the transition of Stortford’s wooden fortress to masonry castle would probably have taken place soon after 1086, although it is thought the keep was not constructed before 1135.

The discovery of foundations consisting of flint and rubble suggest it was rectangular in shape, but while three of its sides were straight, the northern end was convex and bonded irregularly, in parts, with Roman bricks and medieval tiles.

A local historian, J. L. Glasscock, made further minor attempts at excavation in 1900 but found only a few Roman coins of the Lower Empire.

The most informative find was the accidental discovery in the late 1990s, within the grounds, of a large number of human bones which, experts say, strongly suggests there may have been some kind of medieval hospital attached to the castle.