Hemyock Castle: A Medieval Fortification in Devon
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page11 sections
History
Hemyock Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the United Kingdom, in Hemyock village, Devon, whose development included a thirteenth-century building and a new castle authorized in 1380. It stands on the western side of the village in the Culm valley of the Blackdown Hills. The site reflects the ambitions of Sir William Asthorpe, later military conflict during the English Civil War, and centuries of alteration and reuse.
From the Hidon estate to the Dynhams
The land belonged to the Hidon family during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In the thirteenth century, it passed by marriage to the Dynham family. A building was constructed on the present castle site during that century and was protected by a moat fed by a spring.
The medieval estate then became associated with Sir William Asthorpe through his marriage to Margaret Dynham in 1362. The marriage made Asthorpe wealthy and brought him into the local elite, although his position in Devon society remained insecure. In November 1380, he obtained royal permission to build a new castle on the site.
Asthorpe’s castle
The new castle offered Asthorpe some protection, but it also expressed his status and authority. Its quadrangular plan, with towers joined by curtain walls, was fashionable in the period. The finished building was visually impressive, yet weaknesses in its design limited its practical value as a stronghold.
Ruin, warfare, and demolition
By the early sixteenth century, the castle had fallen into ruin. The antiquarian John Leland, an English writer known for recording historic sites and monuments, found only a few towers still intact. By 1566, the central area was being used to grow apples.
The English Civil War began in 1642 as Royalist supporters of King Charles I fought Parliamentary forces opposing royal authority. Shortly after hostilities began, the Royalist Lord Poulett seized Hemyock Castle. Parliamentary forces later captured it and used it as a prison. Following the restoration of Charles II, Charles I’s son, to the throne in 1660, the castle was pulled down and slighted. Slighting involved deliberately disabling a fortified building so it could no longer function effectively as a military stronghold.
Castle House and modern preservation
Castle House was built within the former castle walls between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It incorporated parts of an earlier fifteenth-century building, as well as stone reused from the castle walls and towers. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the estate tenant demolished the upper parts of the towers.
General John Simcoe, a British military officer, acquired the property toward the end of the eighteenth century and probably remodelled Castle House in the Gothic style around 1800. Castle restoration began in 1983 and included modern alterations to the house. By the end of the twentieth century, Castle House had been restored as a private home. In the twenty-first century, the site received protection under UK law as both a Grade II* listed building, a designation for buildings of particular importance and more than special architectural or historic interest, and a scheduled monument, a nationally protected archaeological or historic site.
Remains
The surviving site combines fragments of a roughly square medieval castle with Castle House inside the former enclosure. Circular towers were linked by stone curtain walls, the defensive walls between towers. The complete layout is uncertain, but the eastern side contained the principal entrance, while other towers stood around the perimeter. The walls and towers were about 4.5 feet, or 1.4 metres, thick.
Defensive circuit
Gatehouse
The eastern entrance was formed by a gatehouse with twin towers and a portcullis, a heavy grille that moved vertically to secure a castle entrance. The gatehouse was poorly designed, and the upper storeys of the towers lacked usable rooms. These features help explain why the castle’s imposing appearance did not translate into strong practical functionality. The line of the walls also suggests that a second entrance may have existed on the western side, although its presence remains uncertain.
Walls and towers
The curtain walls and circular towers were built from chert-stone rubble, with occasional pieces of iron slag left from medieval metalworking in the surrounding village. The masonry was originally limewashed. Fragments of the original circuit survive alongside the later house, while the upper parts of the towers were demolished toward the end of the eighteenth century.
Earth bank
An earth bank lies north of the castle. Its purpose is uncertain. It may have helped defend the enclosure or may have obscured the castle from a road passing on that side.
Castle House
Castle House occupies part of the former castle enclosure and incorporates elements of a fifteenth-century building. Its fabric also includes stone taken from the medieval walls and towers. Later remodelling probably gave the house its Gothic character around 1800, while restoration in the late twentieth century established its present form as a private home.
