Reasons for Designation
Motte castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain by the
Normans. They comprised a large conical mound of earth or rubble, the motte,
surmounted by a palisade and a stone or timber tower. In a majority of
examples an embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, the bailey,
adjoined the motte. Motte castles and motte-and-bailey castles acted as
garrison forts during offensive military operations, as strongholds, and, in
many cases, as aristocratic residences and the centre of local or royal
administration. Built in towns, villages and open countryside, motte castles
generally occupied strategic positions dominating their immediate locality
and, as a result, are the most visually impressive monuments of the early
post-conquest period surviving in the modern landscape. Over 600 motte
castles or motte-and-bailey castles are recorded nationally with examples
known from most regions. As such, and as one of a restricted range of
recognised early post-conquest monuments, they are particularly important for
the study of Norman Britain and the development of the feudal system.
Although many were occupied for only a short period of time, motte castles
continued to be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries after
which they were superceded by other types of castle.
A shell keep is an enclosure, of masonry, extending round the top of an
earlier motte or castle ringwork and replacing the existing timber palisades.
Shell keeps are generally small, usually round or rounded, and contained few
internal buildings. They were sometimes provided with gate towers and mural
towers. They held the same functions and siting characteristics as motte
castles. Only 71 shell keeps are recorded nationally, with examples known
throughout England though a concentration occurs in the Welsh Marches.
Consequently they are rare monuments of particular importance in the study of
the development of medieval fortifications. They were built for only a short
period of time, mostly during the 12th century and a few in the 13th century,
after which they were superceded by other types of castle.
Launceston Castle is an especially well-preserved example of a
motte-and-bailey castle, clearly showing the development into a shell keep
castle. The limited excavations have demonstrated the survival of extensive
well-preserved archaeological remains of all periods of the castle's history,
allowing considerable potential for future contributions to the study of these
important monument classes. This potential is supported by the many
historical sources that arise from this monument's importance as one of the
four major castles of the Earls, later Dukes, of Cornwall, and as their
principal residence and the chief administrative centre of Cornwall during the
mid 13th century.
Details
The monument includes a motte and bailey castle of the Norman period and a
shell keep of the later 12th century, with extensive 13th century
modifications evident to both the keep and bailey structures. The surviving
remains of the monument derive from successive developments on its site
throughout the medieval period.
The original motte, constructed in the later 11th century, was built on a
rocky knoll on the edge of a ridge dividing the valleys of the River Kensey to
the north and one of its tributaries to the west. This Norman motte lies
buried beneath the considerably enlarged motte of the 12th century shell keep
castle, whose surrounding defensive works have obscured those of the original
motte.
The Norman period bailey occupied a natural sub-rectangular terrace, c.160m by
120m, extending SW from the motte, with steep scarps to the valley floor on
the W and S sides. Limited excavation has confirmed the nature of the
original defensive enclosure as a clay and rubble rampart supported by timber
walling on the outer face. The same excavations in the bailey's south-west
corner have revealed traces of long narrow timber houses, ovoid huts and a
large timber post-built hall. It is considered that similar structures will
occur throughout the bailey enclosure. In the early 12th century, a
rectangular stone gatehouse was inserted in the bailey's southern rampart
parts of its masonry still survive in the later period gatehouse. The timber
houses were replaced by stone-based houses, with surviving foundations in rows
aligned with the road through the South Gatehouse. The timber hall was also
replaced on a similar plan in stone.
The motte and bailey was converted to a stone shell keep castle during the
mid-later 12th century. The motte was considerably heightened and the
circular stone shell keep, 26m diameter, was built on its top. The keep
survives to the height of the wall walk, which was reached by two staircases
set in the wall thickness. The keep's gate arch, on the S side, is largely
collapsed, as is the parapet. A collapsed recess on the W side marks the site
of latrine shafts. The motte was surrounded by a ditch, crossed by a timber
bridge to the south. The bailey defences remained of earth and timber at
this stage, but were strengthened by the addition of rectangular stone towers
at intervals, surviving bases being revealed at the SW corner and beside the
later North Gatehouse. The early 12th century hall was again rebuilt on a
different alignment and limited excavation elsewhere in the bailey has
revealed dense occupation in the later 12th century, extending onto the
rampart bank, with similar contemporary evidence predictable throughout the
bailey area.
The monument reveals substantial modifications made to the keep, motte and
bailey during the mid 13th century, when Launceston Castle became the chief
legal and administrative centre for Cornwall under Richard, Earl of Cornwall.
A circular `high tower', 12m diameter, was built within the shell keep, rising
to twice the height of the keep and surviving almost to the level of its wall
walk. Joist holes about its external mid-level show that it was linked to the
keep wall walk at that level. The top of the motte was modified by the
construction of a lower fighting platform, still clearly visible with its
stone retaining wall around the base of the shell keep. The gateway to the
keep was altered and large parts survive of a stone-walled passage that
enclosed the steps up the S side of the motte. At the base of the steps, the
motte ditch was filled and re-dug further out, creating a terrace fortified by
a gate tower, largely intact, and containing a stone-lined well. Contemporary
alterations to the bailey included provision of a stone curtain wall on the
rampart at all sides; excavation has confirmed the presence of this wall's
foundations on the W and N sides where it has not survived above ground. The
surviving stone drum towers were added to the South Gatehouse, and the North
Gatehouse was rebuilt in stone in its present position. Mural towers were
provided in the SE corner and E side of the bailey wall, but both have
collapsed. The foundations survive of a major administrative and service
complex in the SW quarter of the replanned bailey, including a new Great Hall,
a kitchen, a courtroom and yard areas. The foundations of other buildings
were noted extending into unexcavated areas. The buried presence of
foundations from other structures of this major phase is also implied by a
reference in a 1337 survey of the castle to several buildings, including two
chapels and various stables and chambers, whose locations have not yet been
identified.
The castle was extensively repaired in the mid 14th century when the South
Gatehouse received a barbican, whose inner half survives, and during the 15th
century, when a council chamber was added to the W side of the Great Hall.
The Great Hall remained in use as an Assize Hall until the early 17th century,
but by the mid 17th century, all of the bailey's internal buildings apart from
the gate-houses had been reduced to the foundation survivals present today.
About 1700, a thick packing of clay was laid against the N side of the motte
to stabilise it, producing the profile visible today. A water-pump (Listed
Grade II) bearing the date 1769 stands in the eastern half of the bailey on
the site of the post-medieval county jail, demolished in 1842. As one of the
major castles of the Earls, later Dukes, of Cornwall, the development of
Launceston Castle can be gauged through a number of historical references, but
by far the most important contribution to its archaeological understanding
derives from limited excavations undertaken on the motte and in the bailey
between 1961 and 1982 by A.D.Saunders.
The monument is located in a strategic position in the low hilly terrain
between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, controlling the main land route into
Cornwall at its crossing point of the River Tamar at Polson Bridge 2.5km to
the east.
Excluded from the scheduling are: all English Heritage fittings, fences,
railings, seats and service trenches; the English Heritage admission and
museum building; the English Heritage wooden bridge to the motte, the breeze-
block store in the NW corner of the bailey and its associated concrete car
park and drive; the listed water pump situated near the English Heritage
admission building; the lamps, metalled paths and seats serving the public
right of way through the bailey; the gas main running through the Castle
grounds; the public lavatory block built into the SE part of the bailey
rampart, and the G.P.O. marker stones, but the land beneath all of these
features is included in the scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
