Bampton Castle in the parish of Bampton,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

was the seat of the

feudal barony of Bampton The feudal barony of Bampton was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its ''caput'' at Bampton Castle within the manor of Bampton. Descent Domesday Book The Domesday Book of 1086 lists ...

. It is located on a spur that overlooks the River Batherm.

History

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times a defensive mound was built. After the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

following the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

of 1066, the land the buildings on it, captured from Edward the Elder, were awarded to Walter Douai, who had established himself at the location by 1086. He, or perhaps his son Robert, were the ones to erect the first fortification at the site. It was a simple fortification, employing the motte and bailey style of defence. A twelve-meter motte was fortified by a timbre palisade on top. The motte was square in shape, with one side protected by the river. In 1136, during the civil war it was used against the King. King Stephen laid siege to the castle and the fortifications were burnt down. Later, a stone mansion was built on the

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

, and in 1336 the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

, Richard Cogan, obtained a royal

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

it and surround it with a stone and mortar wall. It is believed that in 1607 part of the building fell down due to an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. Since then the stonework has all been removed but the motte survives as a prominent mound on the outskirts of the village. Today the remains of the castle exist on a high mound around sixty meters in a diameter, which is surrounded by a circular, partially buried ditch. Ruins of a rectangular enclosure exist to the east that is around seventy five meters by sixty meters.

Notes

{{coord, 50.9925, N, 3.4847, W, region:GB, display=title Castles in Devon Bampton, Devon

History

See also

Notes