Okehampton Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Oakhampton

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

Remains of an C11 motte; C12 and later ruined building remains of a keep, barbican and other buildings. Excavations, which were completed in 1981 demonstrated that the early motte had a rectangular stone tower, and the bailey or outwork extended westwards. Occupation in the eastern bailey began in C12. During C13, the motte ditch silted up, the curtain wall of circa 1300 collapsed, and extensive rebuilding was undertaken in C14 by Hugh Courteney. Abandoned after 1539. Residual finds of Roman tile and pottery may indicate the possible site of a villa. The castle is first mentioned in 1086 in Domesday Book when it was the centre of the estates of Baldwin de Brionne who was Sheriff of Devon. In 1173 the castle passed into the hands of the Courtenay family who held it until 1509. This castle holds a strategic point at the head of the valley and as such has great landscape value. From the extensive survival of the buildings a reconstruction of the early C14 layout is possible and it is one of the more complete castle sites in Devon.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 94344)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX583942

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 440855
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.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/okehampton/okehampton.php
    http://britannia.com/britcastles/okehampton.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_south/191/okehamptoncastle.htm
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.291
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/okehampton.html
    http://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/okehampton2.html
• 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) p73-5
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p60-1
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Cherry, Bridget, 1989, Buildings of England: Devon (Harmondsworth) p610-12
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p75
    Mildren, James, 1987, Castles of Devon (Bossiney Books) p34-8
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p117-8
    Higham, R.A., 1982, ‘Dating in medieval Archaeology: problems and possibilities' in B Orme (ed), Problems and case studies in Archaeological dating(Exeter: University of Exeter) p83-107
    Morley, B.M., 1981, 'Aspects of Fourteenth-century Castle Design' in Detsicas, A. (ed) Collectanea Historica: essays in memory of Stuart Rigold p104-13
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p270-1
    Higham, R.A., 1977, ‘Okehampton Castle’, Archaeological Excavations (HMSO) p25-6
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Young, E., 1931, Okehampton (Devon Parochial Histories, no1)
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p89
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p178-9
    Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p619-20
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p35-7
    Bridges et al, 1889, Some Account of the Barony and Town of Okehampton (Tiverton)
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p356
    Lysons, D. and S., 1822, Magna Britannia Vol6 Devon p. cccxlv-cccxlviii [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=406]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p65
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol2 p65-6
• 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
    Higham, R.A., 1988, 'Devon Castles: an annotated list' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol46 p142-9
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p311
    Higham, R.A., 1982, 'Early Castles in Devon' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p101-116
    Higham, R.A., Allan, J.P. and Blaylock, S., 1982, 'Excavations at Okehampton Castle, Devon: Part 2, the Bailey' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol40 p19-151
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P. 1982, ‘Okehampton Castle' Archaeology in Devon, 5 p26-7
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1981 ‘Okehampton' Archaeology in Devon, 4 p25
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, ‘Medieval Britain in 1980' Medieval Archaeology Vol25 p200 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1980-1, ‘Okehampton, Devon' CBA Newsletter and Calendar, 4 p121
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1980, 'Excavations at Okehampton Castle, Devon: Part II, the bailey. A preliminary report' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol38
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1980 ‘Okehampton' Archaeology in Devon, [3] p21
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1979-80, ‘Okehampton, Devon' CBA Newsletter and Calendar, 3 p129
    Higham, R.A. and Allan, J.P., 1979 ‘Okehampton' Archaeology in Devon, [2] p15
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1978, ‘Medieval Britain in 1977' Medieval Archaeology Vol22 p168-9 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p234 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Higham, R.A., 1977, 'Excavations at Okehampton Castle, Devon. Part 1: the motte and keep' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol35 p3-42 [thorough excavation report]
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1976, ‘Medieval Britain in 1975' Medieval Archaeology Vol20 p184 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    [Higham, R.A.], 1975, Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p239 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    [Higham, R.A.], 1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p175 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    [Higham, R.A.], 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p161 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    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
    Young, 1915, Devonian Year Book p110-20
    Young, 1914, Devonian Year Book p105-13
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol19 p209-245, 417-455 http://www.archive.org/stream/englishhistorica19londuoft
    Worth, R.N., 1895, 'Okehampton Castle' Devonshire Association reports and transactions Vol27 p124-36
• Guidebooks
  • Endacott, Alan, 2002, Okehampton Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Higham, R.A., 1984, Okehampton Castle: Official Handbook (HMSO)
    Anon, 1969, Okehampton Castle (HMSO)
• 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] p176
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html#devon16]