The North Gatehouse of Launceston Castle and Attached Walls
THE NORTH GATEHOUSE OF LAUNCESTON CASTLE AND ATTACHED WALLS, CASTLE STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1280359
- Date first listed:
- 07-Jun-1993
- List Entry Name:
- The North Gatehouse of Launceston Castle and Attached Walls
- Statutory Address:
- THE NORTH GATEHOUSE OF LAUNCESTON CASTLE AND ATTACHED WALLS, CASTLE STREET
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-12-11
- Reference:
- IOE01/14982/06
- Rights:
- © Mr Kenneth D'Maurney-Gibbons. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1280359
- Date first listed:
- 07-Jun-1993
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 06-Jul-1993
- List Entry Name:
- The North Gatehouse of Launceston Castle and Attached Walls
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE NORTH GATEHOUSE OF LAUNCESTON CASTLE AND ATTACHED WALLS, CASTLE STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE NORTH GATEHOUSE OF LAUNCESTON CASTLE AND ATTACHED WALLS, CASTLE STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Launceston
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 33045 84655
Details
LAUNCESTON
SX3284 CASTLE STREET 660-1/4/31 The North Gatehouse of Launceston Castle and attached walls
GV I
Gatehouse of castle and attached walls. Mid/late C13, for Richard of Cornwall, partly demolished 1764. Slatestone rubble with lcoal greenstone and volanic stone dressings. Square gateway with rectangular building on its right (south). The outer face of the gateway has been cut back; the inner (east) face is a 2-centred arch of 3 chamfered orders; just inside the opening is the slot for an inner portcullis; the ribed vault has 2 complete bays and part of a third; there are weathered buttresses on either side. The gateway is reduced to the level of the apex of the relieving arch, (above this used to be a room for the constable). Building adjoining to south has small window opening looking into the bailey; there is evidence of 2 more openings and a pointed-arched doorway from within the passage with an old oak gate. INTERIOR: wall cupboards to party wall; stone-lined pit to south end of room, probably the base of a former C12 stone tower, which has the springing stones of a later vault. HISTORY: this room and its pit was later used as a prison, most notably for the containment of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, when committed in 1656 for distributing a religious paper near Land's End. (Saunders AD: Launceston Castle: London: 1984-; Kelly's Directories: Cornwall: 1902-: P.170).
Listing NGR: SX3304484656
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 369962
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Saunders, A D, Launceston Castle, (1984)
Kellys Directory in Cornwall, (1902), 170
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2026 at 03:51:07.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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