Launceston Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Terabil; Terrible; Dunheved; Llan Stefan

In the civil parish of Launceston.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Castle was built at Launceston, possibly as early as 1067. The original Norman motte and bailey castle, with its wooden defences, guarded the main route into Cornwall, and became the administrative centre for the Earls of Cornwall. In the late C12 a circular stone keep was constructed on top of the motte. Between 1227 and 1272, extensive alterations made to the castle. A tower was built inside the keep and stone curtain walls replaced the timber palisades, with substantial gatehouses in the north and south. Ruinious by 1650. The site is scheduled and listed, the Keep and Gatehouse are Grade 1, the perimeter wall and 1739 water pump are Grade 2.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 370141, 369962, 370143)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX33068463

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 437198, 437216

Web site links

http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/launceston%20castle.htm
http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/launceston/launceston.php
http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/launceston_castle.htm
http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_Launceston.htm
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_south/201/launcestoncastle.htm
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.275
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/north-cornwall/launceston.htm

Books

Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p136-43
Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p22-5
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p18-19
Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p58, 60, 130, 175, 274-6, 355
Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p74
Saunders, A.D., 1982, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) Vol21 p187-8
Saunders, A.D., 1981, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) Vol20 p220-1
Saunders, A.D., 1980, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) Vol19 p97-8
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p251-2
Price, M. and H., 1980, Castles of Cornwall (Bossiney Books) p88-104
Saunders, A.D., 1976, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) p24-5
Saunders, A.D., 1975, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) p19
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Pevsner, N. revised by Enid Radcliffe, 1970, Buildings of England: Cornwall (Harmondsworth) p84
Renn, D.F., 1969, Three Shell Keeps (HMSO) p7-15
Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p693-4
Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p49, 146
Toy, Sidney, 1939, Castles: A short History of Fortifications from 1600 BC to AD 1600 (London) p58-9, 105-6
Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p105-6
Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p164-5
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p121-2
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p4-7
Peter, 1885, Histories of Launceston and Dunheved (Plymouth) esp p225-32, 239-86
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p503-4
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p360
Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol3 Cornwall p. ccxxxviii - ccxl, 187-8 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=403]
King, Edward, 1799-1805, Munimenta antiqua or Observations on ancient castles (W.Bulmer and Co) Vol3 p9-14, 27-30
Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p25
Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol8 p26-9
Borlase, William, 1754, Antiquites, historical and monumental, of the county of Cornwall (Oxford) p358-66

Journal Articles

Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106
Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p314
Preston-Jones, Anne and Rose, Peter, 1986, Archaeological excavations (Department of the Environment) Vol25 p135
Saunders, A.D., 1982, 'Launceston Castle excavations in 1981. An interim report' Cornish Archaeology Vol21 p187-8
Saunders, A.D., 1981, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol20 p220-1
Saunders, A.D., 1980, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol19 p97-8
Saunders, A.D., 1979, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol18 p80
Saunders, A.D., 1978, ‘A stone lamp from Launceston Castle, Cornwall' Antiquaries Journal Vol58 p366-7, 385
Saunders, A.D., 1977, 'Excavations at Launceston Castle1970-1976: Interim Report' Cornish Archaeology Vol16 p129-37
Saunders, A.D., 1977, 'Launceston Castle' CBA Calendar of Excavations, summaries 1976 p3
Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p233-4
Saunders, A.D., 1976, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol15 p118
Saunders, A.D., 1975, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol14 p116-7
1975, Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p239
Saunders, A.D., 1974, 'Medieval Britain in 1973' Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p195
Saunders, A.D., 1974, 'Launceston Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol130 p251-4 plan
1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p161
1972, Medieval Archaeology Vol16 p179
Saunders, A.D., 1972, Cornish Archaeology Vol11 p57
1971, Medieval Archaeology Vol15 p145
Saunders, A.D., 1971, Cornish Archaeology Vol10 p95
Saunders, A.D., 1970, 'Excavations at Launceston Castle, 1965-69: interim report' Cornish Archaeology Vol9 p83-92
1970, Medieval Archaeology Vol14 p175
Saunders, A.D., 1967, 'Launceston Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol6 p79
1967, Medieval Archaeology Vol11 p284
1966, Medieval Archaeology Vol10 p190
Saunders, A.D., 1964, 'Launceston Castle, an interim report' Cornish Archaeology Vol3 p63-9 plan and sections
1964, Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p252
1962-3, Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p320-1
1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol5 p318
Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
Toy, S., 1933, 'The Round Castles of Cornwall' Archaeologia Vol83 p207-17 [plans]
Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol74 p234-5
Patterson, 1851, Royal Institute of Cornwall 33th report p19-37

Guidebooks

Saunders, A.D., 1998, Launceston Castle (English Heritage)
Saunders, A.D., 1984, Launceston Castle, Cornwall (English Heritage)
Jones, 1959, Launceston Castle (HMSO)

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities15.htm]
William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html#cornwall1]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p62-3, 87-8
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p175, 32

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

¤¤¤¤¤