Bridestowe; Burley Wood

In the civil parish of Bridestowe. In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).

Motte with two baileys on a prominent ridge in an area known as Burley Wood. The motte is a circular mound which measures 44m in diameter and is up to 4m high. On the summit are two roughly oval depressions. Surrounding the mound is a ditch which measures up to 4m wide and 1.2m deep. Immediately to the west of the motte is a 'D' shaped bailey. This is enclosed by a rampart which measures 36.2m long by 19.6m wide maximum. To the north and west of the first bailey lies a second outer bailey which is defined by another rampart and outer ditch. Beyond the rampart and ditch is a further defensive outer bank which sits on the summit of the steep natural slope. This measures up to 3m wide and 2.3m high externally.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.

Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX49728761

PastScape Defra ELS number; 438073

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) p87 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p115
Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p404-5
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p616

Journal Articles

Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol46 p142-9
Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p101-116
Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [where Renn writes "Large unfinished site close to motte with tiny bailey" in list of precursor site, presumable he felt this the outer bailey was a precursor castle to the motte]

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

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. 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 commerical purposes. The owner of this site does not receive any income from this site and funds it himself.

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.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Bridestowe; Burley Wood

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX49728761

Sources of information, references and further reading