Lydford The Norman Castle, Lydford, Dartmoor National Park
An information board on site reads:
'The earthwork is all that remains of a small Norman castle which was probably built in the late 11th century in the years of consolidation after the Norman conquest. It holds a dominant position in the corner of the defended Saxon town.
The castle was a 'ringwork', a roughly triangular enclosure protected by a high rampart with a deep ditch. The rampart today measures about 3.6 metres high, just over half its original height. It was supported internally with massive wooden posts.'
The castle was occupied until the mid-12th century. The English Heritage Lydford Castle we see today on the other side of the church from Lydford The Norman Castle was built as a prison and courthouse so it can't be classified as a castle like English Heritage's nearby Okehampton Castle.
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