Holwell Castle is a Norman mottle and Bailey castle built to guard the junction of the east-west, and north-south, trade routes. Its mottle and ramparts were built of earth with timber palisades for defense and a one or two story wooden dwelling. It was probably built by either Martin de Tours, the first lord of Parracombe, William de Falaise (who married Martin's widow) or Robert FitzMartin.
A perfect motte and bailey in a perfect Devon valley, Holwell Castle is one of the few castles of consequence in North Devon, a remote area cut off from much of the world by the bulk of Exmoor. Because of this Holwell Castle is often forgotten by books on castles and history in general. Which is a shame, because if you wanted to illustrate to a child exactly what a motte and bailey Castle shoud look like you couldn't do much better than Holwell! Particularly as you can get a semi-aerial view of it (see above).
Holywell Castle
In fact the whole history of this Castle is obscure. it would almost certainly have been built in the late 11th century or early 12th when the Normans were pushing their way through Devon. There seems to have been no stonework added, so perhaps it was abandoned quite soon afterwards. The earthworks, however, have been beautifully preserved.
Although the Castle isn't accessible to the public, no better view could be wished than the one from the footpath across the top of the valley.
Holwell Castle is a Norman motte and bailey castle built to guard the junction of the east-west and north-south trade routes. Its motte and ramparts were built of earth with timber pallisades for defence and a one or two storey wooden dwelling.
It was probably built by either Martin de Tours the First Lord of Parracombe, William de Falaise (who married Martin's widow) or Robert FitzMartin. |
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