Croft Castle, Winkleigh

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

Medieval ringwork, located on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Bullow Brook to the south. The monument survives as an oval mound, although part of the rampart which originally enclosed the summit of the mound also remains. The ditch surrounding the mound is preserved mainly as a buried feature. The mound itself measures 45m from north east to south west and 42m from north west to south east. Where it has been cut to produce a platform for the village hall it is up to 2.7m high, but the arc which survives uncut, on the eastern side, is up to 4.5m high. A portion of the rampart which originally enclosed the hollow centre of the mound survives. It measures 7m wide at the top. The western side of the mound remains largely intact to a height of 2.7m, although the upper sections have been removed to facilitate the construction of the village hall. To the south, the mound has been cut to enable the construction of a stone-built retaining wall which prevents subsidence from the mound onto the public highway. The ditch which surrounds the mound is preserved largely as a buried feature. On the south eastern side the alignment of the public highway indicates the line of the ditch. A 6.7 metre wide vehicular access to the rear of the village hall follows the line of the ditch around the base of the mound from the north of the monument to the east. However, this feature is not as wide as the original ditch which extends into the garden of an adjacent property. The castle is thought to have been founded in the mid 1100s, possibly in opposition to the nearby Court Castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS63060803

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 34214
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
  • 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) p86
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p120
    Wall, C., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Devon Vol1 p614-5
• 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
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [listed as seigework]