| Summary: | The motte and bailey once formed part of extensive formal gardens attached to Winkleigh Court. During the 18C a brick built banqueting house was erected on the summit of the motte. This is located in the centre of the mound and is square in plan externally, measuring 5.9m across and 6m high. The walls are 0.65m thick. The bailey lies to the southeast of the mound. It is partly overlain by the B3220 and its verges, and has become fossilised within the layout of the formal gardens of Winkleigh Court. A D-shaped level area measuring 50m north-south and 44.3m east-west, defined by a scarp of up to 1.6m high, lies directly to the south of the present 18C house. Further remains of the bailey, possibly up to half, now lie beneath the present house. A drive which gives access to the property may overlie the original line of the outer ditch surrounding the bailey. The motte and bailey are thought to date to the late 11C or early 12C when William II passed the land to Robert Fitz Roy, later the Earl of Gloucester. The area was held by Matilda during the Civil War. During the 12C the manor was split. Court Castle became the property of the Keynes family until the 16C. The manor was sold in 1550 to George Escott of Chawleigh, passed to George Broughton of Studley, and in 1638 was sold to Thomas Lethbridge of Jacobstowe. During this period the present house at Winkleigh Court and the banqueting tower were erected. Winkleigh Court remained with the Lethbridge family until 1821 when it was sold to Reverend George Johnson. Winkleigh Court, Castle Cottage (both listed Grade II) and Castle House are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these buildings is included.The monument survives as an oval, flat topped motte with a rectangular mound on its northeast corner, a ditch which is well defined to the north & west of the motte, but which survives as a buried feature elsewhere, and a D-shaped bailey which has been incorporated into the gardens of the nearby Winkleigh Court (see PRN 12566). The motte, which is oval, measures 92m north-south by 67m east-west at its base. It ranges in height from 1.8m on the northwest side to 10.1m on the southeast side. The flattened top of the mound measures 62m north-south and 45.2m east-west. In the northeast quadrant there is a rectangular mound which may represent the original height of the motte. This measures 21.5m east-west, 16m north-south at its base and is 2.2m high. The ditch surrounding the mound is evident to the north & east where it measures up to 15m wide and 1.7m deep, with a 2m wide flat bottom. The layout of the road to the south of the motte follows the original line of the ditch but does not cut it. On the east side of the motte the B3220 runs north-south and crosses the ditch and part of the bailey. However, the road surface does not cut into the ditch or those parts of the bailey which are effected by it. The monument includes a medieval motte and bailey castle situated at the eastern end of Winkleigh. It is one of 2 earthwork castles in the village. The second, Croft Castle, lies to the west and is the subject of a separate scheduling. |
|---|