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Lydford Castle  Ordnance Survey Map Reference SX 510848

Lydford Castle lies on a promontory above the River Lyd and a tributary.  It was one of the four boroughs of Devon during the Saxon period and was defended by a stone revetted bank on the weak north-east side and more rudimentary defences on the other stronger sides.  The forty houses noted in Domesday as having been laid waste may be evidence of castle building.  At the tip of the promontory, west of the church, is a platform about 30m across with a ditch to the east and north.  Excavations showed that the bank had been thrown up over early 12th century pottery and that four huts of timber and wickerwork occupied the eastern part of the site, which was later burnt.  A coin from the reign of King Stephen was among the finds.  The relationship between this earthwork and the other site north of the church is uncertain.



Site Plan taken from "The Castles of Devon & Cornwall" by Mike Salter

The other site has what at first appears to be a two storey keep standing on a motte at the south-east end of a wedge-shaped bailey.  The bailey is about 70m long and up to 50m wide with ramparts on the two longest sides and a natural slope on the fourth side.  The ramparts are about 2m high above the inside, but rise up to 7m above the ditches.  The keep was generally considered to be the strong building for the keeping of those who broke the laws of the tin miners of Dartmoor, erected at Lydford at a cost of £74 on the orders of Richard I in 1195.  It was garrisoned in 1198-99 and repaired by King John in 1208, and later seems to have been granted to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III.



View of Lydford Castle from the North-West – Taken from a vintage Ministry of Works postcard

The keep was maintained to serve its original function of courthouse and prison throughout the medieval period.  Here in 1510 was incarcerated the Plympton MP Richard Strode, who fell foul of the Stannary Court after introducing a bill to curb the Dartmoor miners from clogging up local harbours by their waste.  The keep was still in use during the Civil War, the Parliamentary Colonel James Hals being kept here in 1644 by the Royalists.  It was in poor condition by 1650 and was roofless by 1703, although the judge’s chair was then still in position in the courtroom.



Ground floor plan of Lydford Castle, taken from "The Castles of Devon & Cornwall" by Mike Salter

The keep measures 14.6m by 14.8m over walls almost 2.3m thick, rising 10m above the external ground level.  An entrance with deep drawbar slots on the north-west side leads through to a large room on the south-west side of the building.  A crosswall divided off two smaller chambers at this level on the north-east side.  The door of the northern of these two rooms, lighted only by a narrow slit, could be barred against it so it was clearly a prison.  The smaller room has an opening in each outer wall of unusual type, being splayed to the outside, although not as much as to the inside.  A third opening of this type lights the main room, whose only other feature is a latrine in the western corner.



First floor plan of Lydford Castle, taken from "The Castles of Devon & Cornwall" by Mike Salter

Steps up from the entrance passage lead up to the top storey, also divided by a crosswall, but without the other division, so there were just two rooms.  The larger of the two was a hall or courtroom, with a latrine in the west corner, and a fireplace in the crosswall.  Windows face south-east and south-west, the latter having seats in the embrasure.  A stair from the other embrasure leads to the wall walk, now lacking its parapet.  The other room was a private chamber with three windows and a latrine in the northern corner.



Lydford Castle, May 1992

No other Norman keep in England has any gunloops quite like those of the keep at Lydford, and excavations some years ago proved that the history of what had long been assumed to be a late 12th century building of provincial design was actually more complicated.  It was discovered that a basement existed, making the building actually 14m high inside.  The basement was divided in two, and had two gunloops facing south-east and one facing north-west.  This clearly indicated that the supposed motte was in fact earth added later against the keep outer face.  The walls here are 3m thick and extend beyond the upper walls as a step on the south-west side.



Basement floor plan of Lydford Castle, taken from "The Castles of Devon & Cornwall" by Mike Salter

This basement is clearly older than the rest of the superstructure.  It could be of 1195, although the sum spent would not have been sufficient to complete such a massive building, for which a date of around 1140-75 seems more likely.  The original keep must have been either destroyed or left incomplete and in the 13th century a mound was created over and around the basement, which was then filled in except for a small pit.  A new prison-cum-courthouse was then raised on top using the old walls as a secure foundation.



Section of Lydford Castle, taken from "The Castles of Devon & Cornwall" by Mike Salter

Lydford Castle is open to the general public, and admission is free.  The site is maintained by English Heritage, and more pictures and information can be found at the following websites.
http://www.lydford.c.../castletext.htm
http://www.ruins-cro...ford_castle.htm

Bibliography

John Kinross - Discovering Castles in England & Wales - Shire Publications Ltd., 1973
Mike Salter – The Castles of Devon & Cornwall – Folly Publications, First Edition, 1999

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The castle in the 1930s.

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An old postcard of Lydford Castle, recently purchased.

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