Eggesford Castle, Wembworthy (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Heywood Wood

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SS67831191
Latitude 50.89151° Longitude -3.88057°

Eggesford Castle, Wembworthy has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Eggesford Castle survives comparatively well and contains archaeological information relating to Norman military activity in this part of Devon. The proximity of this castle to another one nearby is unusual.
The monument includes Eggesford Castle, a ringwork castle situated above a ford to the west of the River Taw at Eggesford. It lies to the south west of a second motte and bailey castle called Heywood Castle which is the subject of a separate scheduling. The monument survives as an oval mound which measures 31m long by 20m wide and is 3.5m high with a surrounding bank up to 1.5m high. Part of the ringwork has been levelled by 19th century ornamental gardening. The bailey, which lies to the NNE, measures 71m long by 24.5m wide internally and is surrounded by a bank which is up to 3.8m wide and 2.3m high. Surrounding the whole is a ditch which measures 2m wide and from 1.6m to 3.5m deep on the north eastern side; at this point steps have also been cut to facilitate access to the river. The history of the castle is not clear, although a date of 1130s to the 1140s seems most likely. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

Eggesford Castle and Heywood Castle are only 500m apart. Both are rather isolated from settlement, although the settlement form is dispersed in this area. The mid C12 date given to both castles is speculative. There must be some relationship between these two neighbouring castle but the nature of that relationship is obscure. The suggestion by Vatchell that Eggesford was the original post-Conquest castle succeeded by the larger Heywood has merit but is unproven. The Eggesford location may be close to, a now lost, river crossing suggesting a manorial centre. The Heywood location, on a hill spur end is more defensive and more dramatic and impressive (although this impact is now lost in the wooded site). If the Eggesford location became somewhat isolated after a ford became impassible then this might suggest a reason for a move to a more impressive location. Dating evidence would be useful but would probably require extensive and destructive excavation and both these earthworks are actually well preserved and should be protected from such damage.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1016208, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 30311
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 34357.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1018.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Devon Prespectives
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
  Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 86
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 120
  Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p. 405-7 online copy
  Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol. 1 p. 621-22
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., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol. 9-10 p. 101-116
  King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Vatchell, E.T., 1963, 'Eggesford and Heywood Castles' Transactions of the Devonshire Association Vol. 95 p. 197-207
  Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol. 33 p. 106-12
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk South West Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 84 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk South West Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 87 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 92 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 93 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 111 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 99 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 95 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 South West (London: English Heritage) p. 103 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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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.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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