Axminster (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Axminster.
In the historic county of Devonshire.
Modern Authority of Devon.
1974 county of Devon.
Medieval County of Devon.

OS Map Grid Reference: SY29689860
Latitude 50.78270° Longitude -2.99882°

Axminster has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Alleged site of a castle and/or hillfort. Conclusion based on sections of flint wall found in buildings and trenches near the alleged site in C19, and reported observations of a ditch. (PastScape)

"Axminster Castle, now entirely destroyed", is included in a list of prehistoric earthworks (Kirwen 1871).
(SY 29689860): 'The Castle' within the town is an open space occupied by the market place. It is topographically suitable for a prehistoric defensive work and there are distinct traces of a ditch. A castle was later erected on the site and though no vestige of this building remains associated relics may be the thick walls of the Bell Hotel cellars and the ancient arched well. In 1824 trench digging in the garden of Castle Hill House revealed flint walls 10 ft. thick which could be part of the castle. (Pulman 1875).
Sir William Pole (circa 1600) says he has seen records which prove there was a castle at Axminster probably a seat of the lords Brewer (Lysons 1822).
The Yonges had a residence at Axminster (besides The Great House, Colyton) called 'The Castle' and lived there in the time of Henry VII. This afterwards became a public house and a warehouse (Polwhele).
The area alleged by Pullman to be the site of Axminster Castle is now completely built-up, but the names Castle Hill and Castle Street are still applied to this locality. Traces of a ditch, or other defensive structures, were not located during field investigations, and local enquiry proved negative. The building formerly known as the Bell Hotel is of probable 18th century date. Road construction works recently undertaken in the immediate area (SY 29719868) of what was once Castle Hill House gardens, did not reveal any features of archaeological interest. (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1200 June 6 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Comments

Would be a typical location for a medieval castle in important town, on major crossroad and by river crossing. William Brewer was granted a licence to crenellate in 1200 'In whichever Devon property he wishes' Higham suggests this was at Axminster. This could have the location of an Iron Age hill fort, reused as a Norman Castle (it also has a strong tradition of being the site of an Anglo-Saxon royal palace) but the lack of remains might suggest only slight masonry buildings and early abandonment.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 449542.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 16840.

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) p. 136-43
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 164
  Pulman, P.R., 1875, Book of the Axe p. 296 online copy
  Polwhele, R., 1797, Historical Views of Devonshire Vol. 3 p. 180, 271, 289
  Lysons, D. and S., 1822, Magna Britannia Vol. 6 Devon p. 23 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol. 46 p. 142-9
  Higham, R.A., 1986, 'Was there a castle at Axminster?' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol. 44
  Kirwan, R., 1871, 'Notes on the Pre-Historic Archaeology of East Devon. Part IV' Transactions of the Devonshire Association Vol. 4 p. 648
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Hardy, T.D. (ed), 1837, Rotuli Chartarum, 1199-1216 (Record Commission) p. 70 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
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