See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Paradise Fort in Warfleet Road, Dartmouth was garrisoned by the Royalists in the Civil War and demolished in 1855

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX85SE/43
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX85SE11

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FORT (Built, XV - 1401 AD to 1500 AD)

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

'Ravensbury On Site of Paradise Fort' shown. Map object based on this source.

O'Neil, B. H. St J., 1935, Dartmouth Castle and other defences in Dartmouth Haven, 145,150 (Article in Serial). SDV177411.

Paradise Fort was probably an earth bastion built in the reign of Elizabeth I.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX85SE11 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV341182.

Ravensbury on site of Paradise Fort. Mentioned by General Fairfax. Used to stand to north of Warfleet, but it has lately (1868) been removed to make room for a marine villa (citing Virtue).

Saunders, A. D., 1965, Dartmouth Castle, 10 (Pamphlet). SDV173182.

Paradise Fort, garrisoned for the Civil War, was described in 1822 by Lysons as a large circular tower. It was demolished in 1855.

Freeman, 1988, Ravensbury, on Site of Paradise Fort (Worksheet). SDV341082.

Foundations of the old fort can still be seen in the cellars of Ravensbury. Map object based on this source.

Freeman, R., 1990, Untitled Source (Correspondence). SDV341832.

A licence to crenellate Paradise Fort was given to John Corp in 1402. The round fort is shown in a drawing made in the 1660's and in a print of 1830. It was also marked on the 1841 Tithe Map but was pulled down in 1855 when the present house Ravensbury was built.

Batty, M., 2003, South Devon Coast Path Project: a study of the archaeology along the coast path in the South Hams from Staddon Heights to Sharkham Point, 85 (Un-published). SDV336214.

Ravensbury built in 1855 on the site of Paradise Fort.

National Monuments Record, 2013, 446015 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV350967.

Paradise House was constructed in 1885. Remains in the cellar suggest that it is on the site of a polygonal fortified structure, this could be a tower of circa 1402 or a bastion of 1599.
Of the former fort the only possible trace is walling in the cellar of Ravensbury. This consists of three facets of a former polygonal structure, possibly a tower. Each facet is c.1.5m in length. A print in possession of the owner shows the ruinedfort as it was in 1830. Its remains still substantial at that date seemed to consist of a circular (or polygonal) tower(RCHME Field Investigation, 25 October 1991, WR Wilson-North).

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Map object based on this source.

Davey, K., 2024, Paradise Fort, Dartmouth (Correspondence). SDV366096.

Various sources for Paradise Fort. The information includes extracts from the Diaries of the Rev. John Swete, 1789-1800, which depicts a sketch entitled Cromwell's Tower, dated 1800 and includes his observation of the tower. It is assumed from the location of the tower that it is in fact Paradise Fort. Also included is a 1662 drawing by Schellinks and a 17th-century map of the Dartmouth area. The map depicts an almost conical-roofed building and is shown above Warfleet Cove. The conical-roofed builidng is similar to the building depicted in the Schellinks drawing.

Waterhouse, R., Unknown, Dartmouth Conservation Area: Archaeology, 6 (Un-published). SDV355585.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.