Trematon Castle

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

Castle mentioned in Domesday and passed to the Dutchy of Cornwall in 1337. It became neglected in the mid C14 and was in ruins by C16. There are the remains of C12 shell keep and the gatehouse, rebuilt in C13, is substantially intact. A deer park is named in 1282 but had lost the deer by 1500. Higher Lodge, a two storey crenellated house (II*listed), was built within the castle bailey in 1807-8 and part of the curtain wall was demolished to provide views of the estuary. (PastScape)
Trematon Castle, mentioned in Domesday, passed to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337. It became neglected in the mid C14 and was in ruins in C16. The C12 shell keep stands on a natural hillock having traces of buildings round its internal face. A large portion of the curtain wall, including parapet, still stands but a length to the south east was destroyed to provide a view of the estuary when the house was built within the bailey in 1807. No trace exists of the hall and chapel which originally stood in the bailey. The gatehouse, rebuilt in C13, is substantially complete although the windows have been enlarged. The deer park adjoining Trematon Castle was named in 1282 but had lost its deer by 1500 (Henderson). Bought by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1270 from the Vautort family, it was bestowed on the Black Prince in 1337. At the time it was described as being well-walled, containing a kitchen, hall and two-storied chamber, the buildings being constructed on wood and plaster. There was also a chapel and gateway. Granted out between 1392-1443, it was again in royal hands from 1443, and was in ruins by Leland's time. In the early C19 a surveyor-general of Cornwall bought the property and built a house for himself in the bailey. He pulled down a section of the wall in order to improve the view. The keep, C13 gateway and the greater part of the bailey wall still remain largely intact. (PastScape–Ref. HKW)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 60435; 60436)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX41065801

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
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 437464
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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.ecastles.co.uk/trematon.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trematon_Castle
    http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1192900
• 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) p136-43
    Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern) p45-6
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p24
    Spreadbury, I. D., 1984, Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Redruth)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p76
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p311
    Price, M. and H., 1980, Castles of Cornwall (Bossiney Books) p105-117
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p846-7
    Henderson, Charles (edited by Rowse, A.L. and Henderson, M.I.), 1963 [original written 1935], Essays in Cornish history (Clarendon Press) p161
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p50-1, 151-2
    Toy, Sidney, 1939, Castles: A short History of Fortifications from 1600 BC to AD 1600 (London) p59-60
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p107-8
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p226-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p19-20
    Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol3 Cornwall p. ccxl, 287-9, plates xxiii, xxxviii [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=403]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p34
    Strutt, Joseph, 1774, Horda Angel-cynnan i, plate xxix
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol8 p46-8
    Borlase, William, 1754, Antiquites, historical and monumental, of the county of Cornwall (Oxford) p321-4
• Journal Articles
  • Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106 p371-392 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28199104%29106%3A419%3C371%3AAHOCRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
    Preston-Jones, Ann and Rose, Peter, 1986, 'Medieval Cornwall' Cornish Archaeology Vol25 p135-185 http://www.cornisharchaeology.org.uk/documents/CA25-5s2.pdf
    Kenyon, J.R., 1977, 'Early Gunports' Fort Vol4 p84
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Hussey, 1948, Country Life Vol104 p428-31, 478-81
    Toy, S., 1933, 'The Round Castles of Cornwall' Archaeologia Vol83 p217-19 [plans]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p145-6
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html#cornwall1]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p81-2, 87
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p210 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01lelauoft