Barnstaple Castle stood near what is now the centre of the town of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

(). When it was built, it was on the western side of the fortified town and commanded a good view of both the town and its important river crossings. The castle was built on top of an early medieval cemetery.

History

Barnstaple Castle was founded in the 11th or 12th century; it was first mentioned in a 12th-century document. It is uncertain who founded the castle: if it was early it could have been built on the instruction of William the Conqueror as he subdued south-west England or if it was a later construction it could have been built for Juhel (Joel) of Totnes, who held the castle in the early 12th century. Juhel also established

Barnstaple Priory The Priory of St Mary Magdalene in Barnstaple was a priory in Devon, England. It was founded in about 1107 by Juhel de Totnes, feudal barony of Barnstaple, feudal baron of Barnstaple, who had earlier founded Totnes Priory in about 1087 at the '' ...

around 1107. King Stephen granted the castle to Henry de Tracy, one of his supporters. In the 12th century, stone buildings were erected on top of the motte, possibly during Henry de Tracy's tenure. The castle descended through his family to another Henry de Tracy, who held the castle in 1228 when Henry III ordered the

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

to make sure that the walls of the castle did not exceed in height as recorded in the

Close Rolls The Close Rolls () are an administrative record created in medieval England, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands by the royal chancery, in order to preserve a central record of all letters close issued by the chancery in the name of the Crown. ...

for that year. By the time of the death of the last Henry de Tracey in 1274, the castle was beginning to decay. According to an inquisition from 1281, building materials had been removed from the castle without permission and by 1326 the castle was a ruin. According to John Leland's ''Itinerary'', published in 1542, "There be manifest ruines of a great castelle at the north west side of the towne a litle beneth the toun bridge, and a peace of the dungeon yet standith." Adam Wyat recorded that part of the castle walls blew down in a storm in 1601.

Later history and investigations

The castle site was excavated in 1927 and 1975. The 1975 excavation revealed the presence of one hundred and five graves at the location. The excavation report, published in 1986, shows that the artefacts recovered at the location showed that the graves were most probably of Christians. Now only the tree covered

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

remains. Since 1950, the castle has been designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, which is intended to protect important archaeological sites.

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * *

External links

{{scholia, topic
Bibliography of sources relating to Barnstaple Castle
Castles in Devon Barnstaple Scheduled monuments in Devon Motte-and-bailey castles

History

Later history and investigations

References

See also

Further reading

External links