Colcombe Castle

In the civil parish of Colyton.
In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).

Moated homestead and probable C13 fortified house. It was In ruins by 1539 and was rebuilt in the early C17, and was later used as a farmhouse. It is now mostly in ruins. Remains show no defensive signs. House. Circa C17 with later alterations. Stone rubble with quoins and rendered front. Slate roof with gabled ends. Two stoeys. Two window range. Modern metal frame casements replace former stone mullion windows. Central plank door with modern gabled porch. Extended at rear to form deep plan and with further extension with catslide roof. Interior heavy stopped chamfer ceiling beams. On the site of and possibly incorporating some of the remains of Colcombe Castle one of the seats of the Courtenays, Earls of Devon, and first built in late C13, by Hugh de Courtenay, partly rebuilt by Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, but after his execution in 1540 it was confiscated by the Crown. Returned to Edward Marquis of Exeter who died in 1556. Bought by William Pole of Shute whose son William Pole the historian and antiquarian completed the house and made Colcombe his residence.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry footings remains.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SY247948

PastScape number; 449686

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern) p6
Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p52
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p64 [slight]
Pevsner, Nikolaus and Cherry, Bridget, 1989, Buildings of England: Devon (Harmondsworth) p85
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p121 [possible]
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p623

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.

¤¤¤¤¤

Colcombe Castle

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SY247948

Sources of information, references and further reading