Ruan Lanihorne Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Larihorn

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

In 1335 John Le Erchedkne obtained a licence to fortify his house at Lanyhorn. The completed castle comprised a round keep, with attached higher and base courts. Six of the seven recorded towers were standing at the beginning of C18, but by 1780 only the 40 foot high remains of part of the round tower survived. This tower was pulled down for building stone in 1889. There are now no identifiable remains.

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 Certain.

Nothing visible remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted:

In 1335 Jan 31, Johannes Lercedekne (John Le Erchedkne) was granted, by Edward III, (In year 9 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Lanihorn (Ruan Lanihorne Castle)

The wording of this licence is;

"Licence for John Lercedekne to crenellate his dwelling-place (mansum) of Larihorn, co. Cornwall."

Granted at Roxburgh, by privy seal.

Original source is

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1334-38) p79

(In fact, the original source given is usually a transcription/translation of what are precious medieval documents not readily availably. It should be noted that these transcription/translations often date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries and that unwitting bias of transcribers may affect the translation. Care should also be taken to avoid giving modern meaning to the medieval use of certain stock words and terms.)

Significant later source are;

Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p695
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol178n5
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p410

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW89484193

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; 428781

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p695
  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) p22
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p24 [slight]
  Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p74
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p15
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p410
Journal Articles
- Whitaker, J. (ed) Douch, H.L., 1974, 'History of Rural Lanihorne MS c 1780’ Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol7 p108-116
  Whiteley, H.M., 1886-9, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol9 p425-48 plan
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 (1334-38) p79
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p73
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p99

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