The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies
The Organisation for those who love Cornwall.
"Cuntelleugh an brewyon us gesys na vo kellys travyth"
(Gather up the fragments that are left that nothing be lost.)
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The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of CornwallLiskeardIn the
civil parish of Liskeard. Possible castle mentioned by William Worcs. Leland writes 'There was a Castel on an Hiile in the Toun side by North from St. Martin. It is now all in Ruine, Fragments and Peaces of waulles yet stond... The Castell was the Erles of Cornwall. It is now used somtym for a pound for Cattell.' PastScape record states 'Site of a medieval castle or fortified manor built originally in 1337 and rebuilt in 1361. The site is now a park and playground and there are no extant remains.' The king's surveys report the wall surrounding the manor house as ruinous in 1337, repairs were made in 1341-2 and 1361 (The little hall was rebuilt, not the castle!). Higham put this in his list of castles built prior to 1300.This site
has been described as a Fortified Manor House / Timber Castle.A high
status fortified residence not capable of withstanding an army but
able to resist an armed band. They are generally moated and have a
gatehouse with loops and crenellations. They tend to be sited with
much less consideration for tactical and strategic defence and with
domestic considerations, such as ease of access, to the fore. The
difference between a small castles and a fortified manor house is a
subjective one and may well be an artificial division in that for
contemporary medieval citizens it may not have existed. David King did
not use this term and preferred the term Strong House, since not all
fortified high status houses were manorial, but use of his term Strong
House has not been widely adopted possible because it is widely used
as a synonym for bastle. Such buildings did not require a licence to
crenellate and having a licence to crenellate does not mean a building
was certainly fortified. However, I have recorded all buildings issued
a licence to crenellate under this group since they clearly were at
least intended to be [re]constructed in a fortified style./
These are the earthwork and timber castles of the motte and bailey or
ringwork form which where the vast majority of castles of the early
conquest period, of the Marches in the 11th and 12th centuries and of
the period during the reign of Stephen known as the Anarchy. They were
generally fairly short lived, although some such castles survived for
centuries, with the timber buildings and defences being replaced on
occasions sometimes in timber and sometimes in Masonry (Alderton
Castle in Northamptonshire was shown in a Time Team excavation to have
been built about 1070 and to still have been having high status
visitors in the C15-a fine piece of enamels horse harness being found
in the gatehouse). Some of the smaller low mottes may have been
adapted into moated manor houses, whilst others where abandoned and
replaced by manor houses of a more comfortable and domestic nature.
Timber castles varied greatly in size with some being massive
constructions clearly deserving the term castle, whilst other were
small mounds of minor knights and had a similar size, function and
social status as the later pele towers. These small mottes are called
'castle' but this could be considered a rather loose use of the term. The
confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain. Nothing visible remains. The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX25366460
Sources of information, references and further reading
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