Curry Mallet Manor

Description

Manor house situated on the site of a Medieval motte and bailey castle. The house comprises a great hall or barn constructed in the 15th century or early 16th century and a manor house dating to the late 16th century or early 17th century. These buildings are linked by a two storey wing. Construction is of local lias and Ham Hill stone with tiled and double Roman tile roofs and ashlar chimney stacks. The house was restored and extended by Clough William Ellis circa 1939. (PastScape)
The Manor House is probably on the site of William Mallet's castle of the late 1060s, and is said to occupy the keep, while boundary walls to the north and east of the house, with an associated ditch, are said to represent the perimeter of the castle and the remains of its moat. The present manor house is in two parts, a great hall of 15th-16th century and a small irregular manor house of 16th-17th century. The castle could have been a wooden one. (PastScape–ref. listing description)

Gatepiers and boundary walling. The walls stated to be part of William Mallet's Castle, but much rebuilt from C16 onwards. Local lias stone walls of varying heights from approximately 1 to 5m high with coping; extends for about 40m along the east side of Headwell, turning eastward for about 150m along the south side of Marshway, the wall then turns southwards bounding the east side of the garden of Mallet Court (not listed). Several gateways; adjacent to the Manor House are C18 gatepiers, ashlar with ball finials, incorporating C16 or early C17 moulded stonework. Portion of wall bounding Marshway with a small doorway in wooden frame, plank door, 2 further gateways with plank gates, C20 piers, this section also with a number of buttresses. Ditch bounding parts of the walling said to represent part of the Moat of Mallet's Castle. (Listed Building Report)

Comments

None of the usual castle authorities include this as a castle site. Presumably, if aware of this site, they felt the source of the of assertion of this being a castle site was unreliable (It may well be a later invention to aggrandise the family, although the C12 Mallets were significant military figures who could be expected to have built themselves houses in a military style.). However it seems likely that this was the site of the manor house of Curry Mallet from probably pre-Conquest times. What is much less certain is if this manor house was ever significantly fortified or otherwise called a castle. Certainly there seems to be no actual evidence of a motte and if this was a motte castle site, as asserted in PastScape, then must have been of the low building platform type - a ringwork enclosure is just as likely.
Despite the lack of supporting castle studies authorities the tenurial history is suggestive of a castle here, but this has to be considered speculative on the existing evidence. It is also probably the later C13-C16 manor house occupying the site was moated and/or otherwise fortified reflecting the status of the site as a caput of the Mallet and Poyntz families. However in both cases the earthworks of these potential fortifications are unlikely to have been particularly strong since they appear to have been both removed and to have left no fossil features in the road and boundary layout.