Federation of Old Cornwall Societies

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No. 247283 

  THE GATEHOUSE 

The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of Cornwall

With thanks to Philip Davis

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Pelynt Bake Rings

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Pellynt

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

Circular enclosure, 94m in diameter, with a larger D-shaped enclosure adjoining to the East, was present here and may represent an Iron Age enclosure or possible Medieval ringwork. It has now been completely plouged out.

This site has been described as a Timber Castle.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 Possible.

Nothing visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX187549

 

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 number; 432191

• Books

  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p77
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Page, Wm (ed), 1906, VCH Cornwall Vol1 p462, 465

• Journal Articles

  • Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [clearly one of the "Two similar sites on parallel spurs" 1000 yards apart in list of resited temporary castle, I've no idea what the second site is.]