Helston Castle

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

Site of a late C13 castle built by the Earl of Cornwall. Possibly a fortified manor house. It was ruinous by 1478, when described by William of Worcester. Traces of the castle were also seen by Leland.

This site has been described as a Masonry Castle. These include castles designed from the outset to have masonry defences and timber castles where the fortifications or significant building have been replaced in Stone. This includes all the classic castle types such as Shell Keep, Great Tower and bailey, Enclosure, Concentric castles etc. These are the buildings which are what are generally thought of as castles and are well described in many books, web sites etc. Masonry is stonework bounded with mortar. A few castles have dry-stone walls, these are listed under earthwork castles, since the dry-stone walling basically requires a similar level of expense and skill as earthwork defences.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.

Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW65652739

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape

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) p21
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p77
  Toy, 1936, History of Helston (London) p398-9
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p3-4
Journal Articles
- Henderson, Charles; edited by Rowse, A.L. and Henderson, M.I., 1963, Essays in Cornish history p71
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p70, 84
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p194, 321
  Harvey, J., 1969, William of Worcester Itinerarii p20

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.

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The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of Cornwall

With thanks to Philip Davis

Helston Castle

Site of a late C13 castle built by the Earl of Cornwall. Possibly a fortified manor house. It was ruinous by 1478, when described by William of Worcester. Traces of the castle were also seen by Leland.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW65652739

Sources of information, references and further reading