More information : (SX 880605) Totnes Castle (NR) (remains of) (NAT). (1)
Full description and plan. (See illustration card). (2)
A Roman flue tile was found by S E Rigold, while digging in the motte at Totnes. He believed it had been brought from the river among clay used in the construction of the mound. (3)
Totnes Castle; as described by Rigold (Authority 2). See photographs. Surveyed at 1:2500. (4)
A motte and bailey castle, presumably with timber fortifications, was constructed at Totnes by Judhael shortly after the Conqest, occupying the north-east corner of the Saxon burh. The earliest shell-keep, built by Reginald de Braose circa 1219, was extensively rebuilt together with the rest of the castle by Baron Zouche in 1326. The castle was later owned by the Edgecombes of Cothele and the Seymour family, by whom it was placed in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works in 1947.
The earliest remains, apart from the motte and bailey earthworks, are masonry footings on the top of the motte of an 11th or 12th century square timber tower. The surviving upstanding masonry is mostly 14th century and comprises a circular masonry shell-keep and sections of the bailey curtain wall. The hall and other domestic buildings which formerly stood in the bailey no longer survive.
Flanking the entrance to the site are two granite pillars possibly taken from the Exchange (SX 86 SW 20) built in 1616. Totnes Castle. Grade I. (5)
Listed by Cathcart King. (6)
Additional reference. (7)
Totnes Castle was first built as a motte and bailey castle by Judhael of Brittany shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD. It is situated on high ground in close proximity to the River Dart and overlooks Totnes town. The motte is 58 metres in diameter and constructed of earth and rock to a height of 17.5 metres. A surrounding ditch now survives as a buried feature. On the summit of the motte stood a square timber tower with dry stone foundations. In 1088 AD the Totnes estate passed to Roger de Nonant and in 1196 AD it passed to the de Braose family. It is believed that Reginald de Braose was responsible for replacing the timber tower with a stone shell keep in around 1219 AD. In 1230 AD the de Cantilipe family controlled the castle before being succeeded by the de la Zouche family in 1273 AD. William de la Zouche was responsible for rebuilding much of the castle in about 1326 AD and this work forms most of the extant remains. The shell keep is nearly circular in plan, constructed of limestone rubble with sandstone dressings and measures about 21 metres in diameter. It has crenellated battlements approached by two stairways within the walls and a garderobe chamber within the western walls but also projecting beyond it. The inner bailey was attached to the north west side of the keep from which it was separated by a moat. It is horseshoe shaped in plan and is defined on three sides by a curtain wall, with interior earthworks perhaps marking where buildings once stood. The curtain wall of the inner bailey probably replaced a timber palisade in the 14th century. Little remains of the outer bailey but it is believed to have stood to the north of the moat protecting the inner bailey. After the 14th century, the condition of the castle gradually deteriorated. The castle was later owned by the Edgecombes of Cothele and the Seymour family, by whom it was placed in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works in 1947. (5, 8)
A Norman motte and bailey castle, founded soon after the Conquest. A later stone shell-keep crowns its steep mound, giving sweeping views across to the River Dart. (9) |