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Croft Castle, Winkleigh
In the civil parish of Winkleigh.
In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).
Medieval ringwork, located on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Bullow Brook to the south. The monument survives as an oval mound, although part of the rampart which originally enclosed the summit of the mound also remains. The ditch surrounding the mound is preserved mainly as a buried feature. The mound itself measures 45m from north east to south west and 42m from north west to south east. Where it has been cut to produce a platform for the village hall it is up to 2.7m high, but the arc which survives uncut, on the eastern side, is up to 4.5m high. A portion of the rampart which originally enclosed the hollow centre of the mound survives. It measures 7m wide at the top. The western side of the mound remains largely intact to a height of 2.7m, although the upper sections have been removed to facilitate the construction of the village hall. To the south, the mound has been cut to enable the construction of a stone-built retaining wall which prevents subsidence from the mound onto the public highway. The ditch which surrounds the mound is preserved largely as a buried feature. On the south eastern side the alignment of the public highway indicates the line of the ditch. A 6.7 metre wide vehicular access to the rear of the village hall follows the line of the ditch around the base of the mound from the north of the monument to the east. However, this feature is not as wide as the original ditch which extends into the garden of an adjacent property. The castle is thought to have been founded in the mid 1100s, possibly in opposition to the nearby Court Castle.
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Siege Work.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS63060803
PastScape number;
34214
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) p86
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p120
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p614-5
Journal Articles
- Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol46 p142-9
Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p101-116
King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [listed as seigework]
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