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Federation of Old Cornwall Societies
Registered Charity No. 247283 |
The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of CornwallWith thanks to Philip Davis |
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List of Fortifications and Castles
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Tregoney CastleAlso known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Tregony In the
civil parish of Tregoney. Site of motte and bailey castle. The castle was built by Henry de Pomeroy on behalf of John, Earl of Cornwall, in the time of Richard 1 (1189-99). The castle was still standing in 1540 and the castle walls are mentioned in 1643. it was later pulled down and a manor house erected on the site. The final clearance of the castle mound and ditches took place in 1862. There are no visible remains.This site has been described as a Masonry Castle / Timber 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. 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 Certain. Nothing visible remains.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW92294475
Sources of information, references and further reading
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THE GATEHOUSE 
