Sampford Peverell (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Sampford Peverel; Stamford Barton; Sanford Castelle; Sanforda

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

OS Map Grid Reference: ST02771443
Latitude 50.92122° Longitude -3.38440°

Sampford Peverell has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Remains of a medieval moat. The house which formerly occupied the moated site was granted a licence to crenellate in 1337 and 1339. The present house dates from 1755 and was altered in the late 19th century. It is two storeyed, built of stone rubble, and possibly some cob, with a slate roof. A coach house adjoins to the rear right. (PastScape)

Samford Peverell was recorded as 'Sanforda' in the 1086 Domesday Survey. The borough of Sampford would once have been dominated by Samford Castle which was recorded in the early 17C as a house on the side of a hill. In 1822 the 'castle' or 'castellated mansion' was described as having been built in 1337 by Oliver Dinham & demolished c1775. The site lies to the northwest of 'Sampford Barton' which probably represents the demesne farm of the manor. (Southwest Archaeology 2004)

There are some suggestions the medieval Castle was north of the post-medieval Barton at ST027145, where some 'Surface irregularities are probably the result of quarrying' (Devon and Dartmoor HER 11474). This may represent preconceptions about the nature of houses granted a licence to crenellate, most of which, in fact, were modest moated houses rather than 'castles'. Generally buildings appear to reuse earlier site although there are exceptions. Gatehouse favours the moated site as the location of the licenced C14 house rather than some 'surface irregularties.'

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1337 July 23 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was confirmed in 1339 Oct 25.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1106392
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 188182.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 19527; 11474.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 695
  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. 87 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 120
  Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol. 1 p. 623
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 412 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol. 46 p. 142-9
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1895, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1334-38) Vol. 3 p. 473 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1898, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1338-40) Vol. 4 p. 326 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Hearne (ed), 1744, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Oxford) Vol. 6 p. 10
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- 2008, Sampford Peverell Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan online copy
  Southwest Archaeology, 2004, 4 & 6 Chains Road, Sampford Peverell: Desk-based assessment (Report - Assessment)

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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