Hemyock Castle Gatehouse and Curtain Walls
HEMYOCK CASTLE GATEHOUSE AND CURTAIN WALLS, CORNHILL
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1325852
- Date first listed:
- 05-Apr-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Hemyock Castle Gatehouse and Curtain Walls
- Statutory Address:
- HEMYOCK CASTLE GATEHOUSE AND CURTAIN WALLS, CORNHILL
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-05-21
- Reference:
- IOE01/14315/17
- Rights:
- © Mr Hedley R. Hooper. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1325852
- Date first listed:
- 05-Apr-1966
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 15-Apr-1987
- List Entry Name:
- Hemyock Castle Gatehouse and Curtain Walls
- Statutory Address 1:
- HEMYOCK CASTLE GATEHOUSE AND CURTAIN WALLS, CORNHILL
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:
- HEMYOCK CASTLE GATEHOUSE AND CURTAIN WALLS, CORNHILL
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Devon
- District:
- Mid Devon (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Hemyock
- National Grid Reference:
- ST1354613276
Details
ST 11 SW HEMYOCK CORNHILL, Hemyock
5/55 Hemyock Castle Gatehouse snd
Curtain Walls (formerly listed as
5.6.66 Castle Gatehouse and Walls)
13.2.86 II*
Ruined castle gatehouse and curtain walls. Circa 1380: in this year Sir William
Asthorpe was licensed to erect a 'wall of stone and lime'. There was already a
structure of some sort on this site, referred to in a C13 document as a 'court'; the
early work on the gatehouse (see below) may date from this period. Random chert
rubble. The curtain wall enclosed a roughly rectangular site; the principal remains
are the circular towers flanking the main (east) entrance, and a corner tower at the
north-east angle. There are remains of 4 other circular mural towers and stretches
of curtain wall. No dressed stone or detailing survive, and it is not clear where
the entrances to the towers were originally; clearly they were not at ground level.
To the rear of the gatehouse towers is a vertical masonry joint probably indicating
that part of the structure ante-dates the 1380s work.
Historical note: Sir William Asthorpe was a courtier, and appointed by Richard II
as Sheriff of Devon in the 1380s in the face of considerable local hostility; he
had married into the Dynham family, a connection that led to protracted family
litigation in the Court of Chivalry; after his year in office as Sheriff, about a
dozen cases of embezzlement and other corrupt practices were brought against him by
numerous members of the local nobility. He was temporarily imprisoned in The Fleet
prison, but pardoned by Richard II. His vulnerability probably explains in part the
erection of the castle, but it was doubtless also intended to impress the local
gentry.
Listing NGR: ST1354613276
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 95711
- Legacy System:
- LBS
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 10-Jun-2026 at 21:56:54.
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