| Summary : The site of Tintagel Castle, a medieval castle on the site of a possible Roman outpost and 5th to 7th century trading or royal settlement. This site is famous mostly because of its Arthurian connections, although these are largely unfounded, deriving from Geoffrey of Monmouth's writings in the 12th century. The castle lies on either side of the isthmus linking Tintagel Island to the mainland, and was in fact built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall between 1227 and 1233. The Inner Ward is on the Island, and the Upper and Lower wards are on the mainland, with a bailey on either side of the isthmus. There is no keep. The Upper Ward is built around a natural crag, the main castle entrance being through the curtain wall in the Lower Ward. The Inner Ward contains the Great Hall built on an artificial platform with a thick retaining wall. Built as a double square in plan, the weight of the structure caused the platform to bulge, requiring the construction of four massive buttresses. A secondary curtain wall was added to the north of the Great Hall, and also buttressed, to provide protection for the new service wing built there. The gate tower is preceded by a narrow passage overlooked by an elongated enclosure wall on a rock outcrop which defenders could safely use, protected by the wall. The path descending to the sea is protected by the Iron Gate, controlling access to a quay. In the 14th century the Great Hall was reconstructed on a smaller scale with modifications being made to the service buildings. A survey of the Duchy properties in 1337 records additional detail: two chambers over the gateway, an upper element above the Lower Ward entrance, and a stable for eight horses. A cellar and a bakehouse are also documented. By the late 15th century the castle was noted as being strong but ruinous. This is an English Heritage Property. |
More information : (SX 05168892) Castle (NR)
(SX 05078917) Iron Gate (NR). (1)
Tintagel Castle : see DOE Guide. (2)
Listed Building Grade II* (3)
APs. (4-5)
The Medieval buildings which form Tintagel Castle are as described in the DOE Guide. Pillow mounds referred to (p 23) are evidently those at SX 04958908 (14.0m by 4.0m) and SX 04958906 (20.0m by 10.0m). Both, now ditchless, are 0.4m high and much despoiled; the larger may have been two mounds, merged into one amorphous platform as a result of excavation.
All features have been surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. (6)
Tintagel stands on a once remote stretch of the north Cornish coast. On the landward side, stand the castellated remains of a double-ward medieval castle with a smaller corresponding ward on the so-called Island. Most of what is now visible has been attributed to Earl Richard in the 13th century. Over most of the island are clusters of small rectangular slate-walled rooms or huts, described as the component buildings of a Celtic monastery (SX 08 NE 44). Late 19th/Early 20th century photographs show the buildings to be just visible in the short turf, and were excavated during the 1930s. One cluster (site A) contains a narrow 12th and 13th century chapel; a curious position, since the chapels of medieval castles are normally inside the walls.
These have originally been interpreted as the components of a monastery but as many of them are similar in plan and size of 12th and 14th century structures of Cornwall and Devon and are now thought to be part of the castle, as barracks, a subordinate defended village, or lodgings for a retinue. (7)
SX 049891. The Island, Tintagel Head.
The Medieval castle lies on either side of the neck linking the Island to the Mainland. Small groups of buildings visible on the Island, thought originally to be those of a Celtic Monastery, were revealed (and partially reconstructed) during excavations in the 1930s. Fieldwork, following a fire has indicated the existence of many more buildings than those excavated and the complex must now be regarded as a major settlement with its origins in the late or immediate post-Roman period, and a life at least into the mid-13th century. (8)
The castle is first documented in 1233 as the castle of Richard, referring to Richard, Earl of Cornwall (1227-1272). He started to construct the castle between 1227-1233. There may have been a residence here prior to this (9). The ceramic evidence indicates 11th-12th century occupation but the quanitities are not substantial enough to suggest a castle. Diagnostically, the pottery supports the idea that the castle was built between 1233-6 with the height of occupation in the late 13th-14th century, 15th-16th century material is also present but indicates a low level domestic use. The castle appears to have been built as a status symbol, hardly used residentially or defensively, therefore no accompanying reason arises for a contemporary population. (10)
The castle had been constructed by enclosing the promontory with a stone wall (11). The Great Hall and curtain wall were built within a short time of each other, between 1230-36. The Island Ward is the most sheltered part of the island, convenientely placed for access to the north east shelf and Iron Gate landing. The Medieval buildings obscure a natural hollow which has been modified by the construction of terraces. (12-13)
A foundation trench for a new wall was excavated in the north east section of the lower ward revealling part of a hollow way and two pits. The hollow way ran from the south gate of the lower ward towards the entrance to the inner ward. One of the pits appears to be modern, the other contained no finds. (14)
Listed by Cathcart King. (15)
Additional reference. (16)
There are several vertical and oblique aerial photographs in NMRC Collections. (17,18)
Synthesis of the latest archaeological and architectural surveys, and historical research on Tintagel. (19)
Delisted, no longer a Listed Building. (20)
Short description and history. (21-2)
Even before Richard Earl of Cornwall built his castle, Tintagel was already associated with the conception of King Arthur. This connection was later renewed by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in his Idylls of the King. (23)
After a period as a Roman settlement and military outpost, Tintagel is thought to have been a trading settlement of Celtic kings during the 5th and 6th centuries. (23)
In June 1998, excavations were undertaken under the direction of Professor Chris Morris of the University of Glasgow, on a relatively sheltered and small site on the eastern side of the island, first excavated in the 1930s. Pottery from the 5th and 6th centuries was found, as well as some fine glass fragments believed to be from 6th or 7th-century Malaga in Spain. Even more remarkable was a 1,500-year-old piece of slate on which remained two Latin inscriptions. The second inscription reads: 'Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had (this) made.' Who exactly Artognou was continues to be a subject for lively speculation. (23)
Details of modern repairs to Tintagel Castle. (24).
A full description and analysis of excavations at the Castle in the 1930s and 1950s by Dr Ralegh Radford, in addition to those undertaken up until 1999. (25)
Scheduled. For the designation record of this site please see The National Heritage List for England. (26-27)
Between about 1233 and 1236 Richard Earl of Cornwall bought the headland and the then surrounding manor of Bossiney, whose name was later changed to Tintagel. He built the castle over the remains from earlier periods. Little is known about the construction in part as debris from its collapse was cleared when the site was opened to the public in the 1930s. The castle continued to be used by Richard's son Edmund, but he died without issue in 1300. After this the castle was little used and fell into disrepair. In the 1350s a new two-storey house was built within the walls of the Great Hall. In the 14th century the castle was used as a prison. Richard II (1377-99) ordered that Tintagel and Trematon Castle be surveyed and refortified against a possible French invasion.
By the later 15th century the castle is once more described as being in ruins. The castle was surveyed in 1583 to see if it was suitable to be strengthened in case of Spanish attack, however no official use was found.
17th century saw local industry predominate and the castle became romantic ruins. The Vicar of Tintagel, Richard Byrn Kinsman (1851-1894) partly restored the battlemented wall of the castle on the mainland courtyard and the wall facing the mainland on the Island courtyard and had steps carved into the cliff between them. He also obatined the post of Constable of Tintagel Castle ( a long obsolete post). In 1929 the duchy of Cornwall placed the castle in the care of the Ministry of Works. (28)
The Island was surveyed by the RCHME in 1984-5 but the results were not published in full; re-assessment of this work in 2015 led to the suggestion that some features on the Island - the chapel, the garden and the 'tunnel' - relate to the castle landscape as an evocation of the story of Tristan and Iseult, which seems to have been a significant part of the legend of Tintagel in the medieval period. (29)
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