Tintagel Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Tindage; Tindagel

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

Tintagel Castle lies on either side of the neck linking Tintagel Island to the mainland. Built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall between 1227 and 1233. Inner Ward on the Island, and the Upper and Lower wards on the mainland, with a bailey on either side of the isthmus. There is no keep. The Upper Ward is built around a natural crag, the main castle entrance being through the curtain wall in the Lower Ward. The Inner Ward contains the Great Hall built on an artificial platform with a thick retaining wall. Built as a double square in plan, the weight of the structure caused the platform to bulge, requiring the construction of 4 massive buttresses. A secondary curtain wall was added to the North of the Great Hall, and also buttressed, to provide protection for the new sevice wing built there. The gate tower is preceded by a narrow passage overlooked by an elongated enclosure wall on a rock outcrop which defenders could safely use, protected by the wall. The path descending to the sea is protected by the Iron Gate, controlling access to the beach. In C14 the Great Hall was reconstructed on a smaller scale with modifications being made to the service buildings. A survey of the Duchy properties in 1337 records additional detail: two chambers over the gateway, an upper element above the Lower Ward entrance, a stable for eight horses. A cellar and a bakehouse are also documented. By the late C15 the castle was noted as being strong but ruinous. Castle built on site of Dark ages stronghold. It seems the castle was built as much to associate the Dukes of Cornwall with the Autherian legends as for any military or economic reason, started 1145, six years after Geoffrey de Monmouth's 'History of Britain' claimed Tintagel as the birthplace of Arthur.

This site has been described as a Masonry Castle

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.

Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX051889

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; 431862
Web site links
- http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/tintagel%20castle.htm
  http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/tintagel/tintagel.php
  http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_south/200/tintagelcastle.htm
  http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_Tintagel.htm
  http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.316
  http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/easy_results.asp?index=1&main_query=tintagel%20castle
  http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/537.html
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) p42-4
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p23
  O’Mahoney, C., 1989, The medieval pottery from Tintagel (Redruth: Institute of Cornish Studies)
  Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p76
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p307
  Price, M. and H., 1980, Castles of Cornwall (Bossiney Books) p75-87
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
  Pevsner, N. revised by Enid Radcliffe, 1970, Buildings of England: Cornwall (Harmondsworth) p201-2
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p845-6
  Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p26-33
  Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p124-6
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p16-8
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p499-500
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p362
  Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol3 Cornwall p. ccxl, plate xxiv, 304-6 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=403]
  Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p33
  Borlase, William, 1754, Antiquites, historical and monumental, of the county of Cornwall (Oxford) p352-3
Journal Articles
- Rose, P., 1994, 'The medieval garden at Tintagel Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol33 p170-82
  Morris, C., Nowakowski, J. and Thomas, C., 1990, 'Tintagel, Cornwall: the 1990 excavations' Antiquity Vol64 No245 p843-849
  Thomas, C., 1988, The 1988 C A U excavations at Tintagel Island: discoveries and their implications' Cornish Studies Vol16 p49-60
  Padel, O.J., 1988, ‘Tintagel in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries' Cornish Studies Vol16 p61-6
  O'Mahoney, C., 1988, ‘Medieval pottery from Tintagel: a summary' Cornish Studies Vol16 p67-8
  Hartgroves, S. and Walker, R., 1988, ‘Excavations in the Lower Ward, Tintagel Castle, 1986’ Cornish Studies Vol16 p9-30
  Thomas, C., 1988, 'Tintagel Castle' Antiquity Vol62 No236 p421-34
  Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T.B., 1987, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986' Medieval Archaeology Vol31 p119
  McAvoy, F.M., 1984, 'Tintagel Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol23 p184
  Browse, R.G., 1982, 'Tintagel Castle' Cornish Archaeology Vol21 p189-90
  Radford, C.A.Ralegh, 1974, 'Tintagel Castle and Celtic monastery' Archaeological Journal Vol130 p248-50
  Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
  Radford, C.A.Ralegh, 1942, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol25 p25-41
  Radford, C.A.Ralegh, 1935, Antiquarian Journal Vol15 p401-19
  Whitley, 1883-5, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol8 p269-70
  Kinsman, 1877, Journal British Archaeological Association Vol33 p170-5
  Kinsman, 1871-3, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol4 p42-6
  Wilkinson, 1870, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol3 p227-35
  MacLauchlan and Haslam, 1851, Royal Institute of Cornwall 32nd report p42-6 plates xxx, xxxi
Guidebooks
- Davison, Brian K., 2000, Tintagel Castle (English Heritage)
  1999, Tintagel Castle Souvenir Guide (English Heritage)
  Thomas, Charles, 1993, English Heritage book of Tintagel: Arthur and archaeology (English Heritage)
  Thomas, Charles, 1986, Tintagel Castle (English Heritage)
  Radford, C.A.Ralegh, 1939 (2edn), Tintagel Castle Cornwall (HMSO)
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html#cornwall1]
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p64, 83
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p316-7
  Harvey, J., 1969, William of Worcester Itinerarii p21

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