Helston Castle was a

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

thought to be built for

Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall Edmund of Almain (26 December 1249 – 1300) was the second Earl of Cornwall of the fourth creation from 1272. He joined the Ninth Crusade in 1271, but never made it to the Holy Land. He was the regent of the Kingdom of England from 1286 to 1289 ...

in the late

13th-century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eur ...

, in

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The castle was ruined by the end of the 15th century, and sat at the bottom of Coinagehall Street, where the bowling green and

Grylls Monument Grylls Monument in Helston, Cornwall, is designated by Historic England as a Grade II* listed building. It is dedicated to Humphry Millet Grylls, a businessman who had kept a local tin mine, Wheal Vor, open through a period of recession, safeguard ...

are now located. Although very little is known about the castle, it is speculated that the castle was a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Background

was the grandson of King John, and a wealthy magnate who served as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for his cousin King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

. As Earl of Cornwall, he controlled eight and a third of Cornwall's nine hundreds, and had an income of around £8,000 per year (the equivalent of roughly £ in 2019).

is a town in south-west

, England. It was granted a town charter by King John in 1201, and gained further status during Edward I's reign, when it became a stannary town (sporting its own coinage hall)which returned two

members of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

History and location

The castle is thought to have been built sometime in the late 13th century for Edmund, however no primary source for this survives. The only contemporary source for the castle whilst it was in use is the Caption of

Seizin Seisin (or seizin) denotes the legal possession of a feudal fiefdom or fee, that is to say an estate in land. It was used in the form of "the son and heir of X has obtained seisin of his inheritance", and thus is effectively a term concerned with co ...

of the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

, prepared for

The Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

in 1337. At this time, John Wilkyn, John Goon, Geruase de Treloubes, John Nanslo, Rifhard de Penwerne and Richard Dygydan were renting "1 acre of pasture in the castle of Helliston". This may have referred to land enclosed by the

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

of the castle. There is speculation regarding the function of the castle; Charles Henderson said that it was a fortified

. The location of the site, overlooking the river valley, which at the time may have been accessible from the sea, has also led to suggestions that it was more defensive in nature. William Worcester visited Helston on 17 September 1478. This was in the afternoon, on his way to Penryn having attended mass at St Michael's Mount earlier that morning. He wrote:

"Castellum Helston dirutum: comes Comubiae Edmundus."

Indicating that the castle was by then already in ruins. Another fifty years later, John Leland remarked:

''"Hailestoun,'' alias Helles, stondith on an hill, a good market tonn, having a mair and privileges; and coinage twis a yere for tynne blokkes. There hath bene a castelie. One paroch chirch at the north-west ende of the towne."

In David J Cathcart King's index of British castles, he records Helston Castle as a "vanished castle". The former site of the castle is now the location of a bowling green and the

, at the bottom of Coinagehall Street.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Castles in Cornwall Helston Former buildings and structures in Cornwall