Totnes Castle
| Totnes Castle | ||
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 Totnes Castle as seen from Castle Street |
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| Creation time : | around 1068 to 1100 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Totnes | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 25 '58 " N , 3 ° 41' 29" W | |
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Totnes Castle is a ruined castle in Totnes in Devon , United Kingdom .
location
Totnes Castle is a Norman castle ruin in the middle of Totnes on a hill above the River Dart .
history
The first castle was built in the 11th century by Judhael de Totnes , a follower of William the Conqueror . He received the surrounding land in 1086 and built what was believed to be a wooden castle to consolidate his hold over the area. With the death of Wilhelm he lost the country - presumably because he sided with Wilhelm Rufus in the 1088 uprising for the succession and the partition of England from Normandy .
The castle was succeeded by Roger de Nonant , whose descendants managed it for probably three generations before the castle came into the possession of William de Braose in 1206 . His son Reginald de Braose probably had the stone castle built around 1219, the remains of which are still preserved today. Via Reginald's granddaughter Eva de Briouze , the castle came to William de Cantilupe around 1241 and in 1273 through succession to William Zouche, 1st Baron Zouche . In 1326 the castle fell into ruin and was rebuilt and re-fortified at the request of the king. After the Battle of Bosworth , Henry VII gave Totnes to Richard Edgcumbe , after which the castle was militarily outdated and fell into disrepair. In the middle of the 16th century Richard Edgcumbe had to sell Totnes, the castle fell to the Seymour family , the later Dukes of Somerset . During the English Civil War , the castle was reoccupied, but played a minor role. In 1947, the Seymour family gave the castle ruins to the Ministry of Works, which eventually placed them in the care of English Heritage.
investment
Large parts of the castle wall and the keep are still preserved today. The castle ruins have been managed by English Heritage since 1984 and can be visited from April to October for a small fee.
