Ruan Lanihorne Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Larihorn; Shepestall

In the civil parish of Ruanlanihorne. In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

In 1335 John Le Erchedkne obtained a licence to fortify his house at Lanyhorn. The completed castle comprised a round keep, with attached higher and base courts. Six of the seven recorded towers were standing at the beginning of C18, but by 1780 only the 40 foot high remains of part of the round tower survived. This tower was pulled down for building stone in 1889. There are now no identifiable remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW89484193

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 428781
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p695
    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) p136-43
    Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p22
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p24 [slight]
    Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p74
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p15
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p410
• Journal Articles
  • Preston-Jones, Ann and Rose, Peter, 1986, 'Medieval Cornwall' Cornish Archaeology Vol25 p135-185 http://www.cornisharchaeology.org.uk/documents/CA25-5s2.pdf
    Whitaker, J. (ed) Douch, H.L., 1974, 'History of Rural Lanihorne MS c 1780’ Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol7 p108-116
    Whiteley, H.M., 1886-9, Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall Vol9 p425-48 plan
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1334-38) p79
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p73
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p99 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01lelauoft