Hembury Castle, West Buckfastleigh

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

Motte and Bailey set within an Iron Age hillfort. The castle is situated on the western summit of the hillfort interior. The motte consists of a central grass covered mound with an encircling ditch and bank, bailey and outer rampart. The motte is almost perfectly circular at its base, about 32m in diameter rising to an oval top offset to the south west quadrant and measuring 19m north east to south west by 11m overall. The remains of the bailey lie 18m beyond the mound.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.

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

Earthworks remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX72546843

PastScape Defra ELS number; 444802

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) p415-6
Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p618

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

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Hembury Castle, West Buckfastleigh

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX72546843

Sources of information, references and further reading