Torrington Castle, Great Torrington

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Torryton

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

Torrington Castle, was built in the reign of John by William de Toriton and was ordered to be destroyed in 1228 having been built without a license. It was rebuilt in 1340 by Richard de Merton and in 1401 was granted to Robert Chalons. The chapel dedicated to St James was all that remained in Leland's time. That was converted to a school-house and finally demolished in 1780. The earthwork remains include a mound, possibly the site of the keep, 36m by 18m overall, with an uneven top of about 18m by 9m by 2.7m. Higham writes pre 1139 and motte and bailey in origin.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS49651896

PastScape number; 32838

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) p65
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p64 [slight]
Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p122, 134
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p121
Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies p48-9
Potter, K.R. (ed), 1955, Gesta Stephani, the Deeds of Stephen (London: Nelson)
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p612
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p413, 414, 422

Journal Articles

Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol46 p142-9
Higham, R. and Goddard, S., 1987, 'Great Torrington Castle' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol45 p97-103
Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p101-116
Alexander, J., 1941, 'Early Barons of Torrington and Barnstaple, Devonshire Association reports and transactions Vol73 p153-79
Doe, G.M., 1941, Devon and Cornwall notes and queries Vol21p195
Doe, G.M., 1939, Devonshire Association reports and transactions Vol71 p60-1
Colby, F.T., 1875, Devonshire Association reports and transactions Vol7pp90-1

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1340-43) p39
Calendar of Patent Rolls (1345-48) p228

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

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p108
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p173

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Torrington Castle, Great Torrington

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS49651896

Sources of information, references and further reading