A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



consist of half the plan of a mound and base-court abutting on the natural precipitous bank on the 

 south-eastern side, where no other defences are apparent. The lofty demi-mound is crowned by 



the mellowed ruins of the Norman keep of Baldwin 

 de Brioniis, to whom the site was given by William 

 I, and within the bailey are the remains of the great 

 hall and domestic buildings. The north side is 

 protected by a wide fosse which has, however, 

 lost much of its original appearance by subsequent 

 alterations. 



Parracombe, — Holwell Castle, to the south of 

 Parracombe, is 5 miles south-west of Lynton. The 

 mount, which rises to a height of 50 ft. on a steep 



%;a«^::^«'' 



^CALCOF FEET 



100 ioo 300 



Camp at Milton Damerel. 



^V ^1 Mm 



Okehampton Castle. 



escarpment and has a table top, was originally 

 encompassed by a fosse 6 ft. in depth ; this, however, 

 on those sides not touched by the bailey, has been 

 destroyed by modern banking. The area of the 



base-court is protected by an agger 10 ft. in height from the interior and 20 ft. deep on the exterior ; 



this extends to the fosse of the mount at points almost at opposite ends of the axis of the latter. 

 At the entrance on the 



north-west the rampart incurves at 



either side. 



Plympton Maurice (O.S 



cxxiv, 7). — Plympton Castle on 



the south side of the Tory Brook, 



and i^ miles from the River Plym, 



embodies the remains of an early 



camp of the keep and bailey class 



of fortifications, adapted by Richard 



de Redvers to his Norman 



stronghold. 



The apparent lack of defences 



on the broad waters of Plymouth 



Sound may be accounted for by 



modern alterations on sites of great 



national importance ; even the 



tumuli, which were probably numer- 

 ous in this neighbourhood, have been 



obliterated except in two localities 



— one in the parish of Plymstock, 



near the Sound, and others on Crownhill Down in the parish of Plympton St. Mary. 

 Plympton Earle, commemorating in its name the feudal period, has, however, preserved its early 



defences beneath its mediaeval robe. The conical mount, on 

 which is a fragment of the Norman keep, retains a portion 

 of its fosse on its western side, and on the same side extends 

 the ancient base-court or bailey, forming a quadrangular area 

 with its early rampart and fosse strengthened by subsequent 

 art and partially destroyed by succeeding improvements ( !). 

 The agger on the south side turns inward as it approaches 

 the mount, but it cannot be fully traced because of latter- 

 day alterations. 



Shebbear (O.S. xl, 9). — Durpley Castle, almost due 

 south of Hembury and 10 miles from Bideford, is situated 

 between Higher Combe and Moortown. 'The Castle' occu- 

 pies the top of a very high conical hill, the apex of which 

 forms the mount or keep, 18 ft. in height, perpendicular 

 measurement. It has the crater-like hollow in its centre, 

 nearly 30 ft. in diameter and 12 ft. deep. The mound is 

 surrounded by a fosse, and a base-court on the western side, 

 of an area a little over an acre, is defended by a double 

 vallum. The bailey, of a crescent plan, has a breastwork 

 rising between three and four feet, descending on the outer 



side 10 ft., perpendicular measurement, into a fosse 6 ft. deep at its highest point ; this fosse runs 



into the fosse of the mount at the north and south junctions. From the outer vallum the ground 



620 



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SCALCOF FEET 

 100 ?oo 



300 



Holwell Castle, Parracombe. 



