Sheviock Barton

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Shevyok

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

Sheviock Barton House is C16/C17 rubble-built house with hipped slate roofs and brick and plastered stacks. It is alleged that it stands on the site the manor house of John Dawney licensed in 1336. Area susceptible to French raids so may well have been acted upon. Kempthorne mentions a possible alternative site for this at the site of a medieval dovecote at SX36345413.

This site has been described as a Fortified Manor House.

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.

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

Nothing visible remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted:

In 1336 March 19, Johannes Dauneye, miles (John Dawney) was granted, by Edward III, (In year 10 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Shevyok (Sheviock Barton)

The wording of this licence is;

"Licence for John Daimey, knight, to crenellate his dwelling-place (mansum) of Shevyok, co. Cornwall."

Granted at Westminster, by privy seal.

Original source is

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1334-38) p238

(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
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p411

This site is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 61973)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX36965502

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; 436611, 436657

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) p47 [slight]
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p411
Journal Articles
- Sheppard, P., 1974, Cornish Archaeology Vol65 p13, 1974
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) p238

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