More information : (SS 66600175) Mansion (NR) (Site of) (NAT). Moat (NR). (1)
Castle Court in North Tawton is a low mound about 100 feet by 130 feet. Its height is 9 feet and a moat which formerly surrounded it is now scarcely perceptible in parts, but on the south, where it is most prominent, the depth is 3 feet. Slight indication of an entrance may be traced on the south. Classified as a mount.
A little over 100 feet to the north are the remains of another
escarpment, but modern alterations and buildings, with the
divisional fence of two gardens passing right over the centre of
the mount, have largely destroyed the original features of this
work.
This appears to be a castle mound about 3.0m high with a flat and probably spread top. A surrounding ditch is traceable from the north, around the east and south sides up to 1.0m deep but has been destroyed on the west side. No entrance can be traced or is indeed probable.
The VCH suggests by implication the possibility of a bailey to
the north but this area is newly built over.
There may well have been a manor or court house in the vicinity, probably to the west of the Castle Mound, but its site cannot be determined.
Both the mound and the fields to the west are densely overgrown with rank grass, bushes and brambles.
OS 1:2500 survey correct. (2-3)
SS 66600175. The remains of a medieval motte located on a gentle slope east of St Peter's Church. The motte survives as a roughly circular mound up to 35 metres in diameter and 2 metres high, surrounded by a ditch. Scheduling amended. (5) |