Plymouth, Castle

PLYMOUTH
DATA

The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

PLYMOUTH CASTLE

Plymouth Castle was situated on a rocky spur above the Barbican, and is today marked by Castle Street and Castle Dyke Lane, running from the top of Lambhay Hill to New Street.

The Castle had four towers, one at each corner, and thus became known as the Castle Quadrate. These four towers are depicted in the City's coat-of-arms.

It is not clear exactly when the Castle was built. In 1374 King Edward gave orders by Letters Patent for the defence of what at that time was still called Sutton, the manors of Sutton Prior and Sutton Vautort.

Only a very small part remains of one of the four towers of Plymouth Castle.

The burgesses were required to carry out a survey of the defences and make good the many weaknesses. They also had to see that all the men were supplied with arms.

After King Edward died in 1377, the French immediately sent an invasion fleet to all the major ports along England's south coast, including Plymouth, which was burned and pillaged. It seems it was not that well defended. The new King, Richard, realised the that Plymouth was in great danger and in 1378 granted six years of custom's duty and one hundred marks a year for twenty years to pay for the erection of the Town Wall.

By 1403 some of the work had been carried out. A chain was stretched across the entrance to the harbour to prevent enemy ships from gaining access, and it is thought that the first two towers of the Castle were built at that time. The reasoning behind that assertion is that the records tell that when, on Wednesday August 10th that year, Le Sieur du Chastel attacked Plymouth, he landed his men in the Cattewater and entered the Town from the east. This suggests that the harbour entrance was well protected but not the rest of the district. They did not, however, get into the "Old Town".

It was not until King Henry V came to the throne in 1413, that they won more support to build better defences. His Lord Chancellor, Bishop Stafford of Exeter, granted them an indulgence in 1416 by which they could erect two more towers at the Castle, thus completing what had been started some 15 to 20 years earlier. Indeed, it was reported that one of the towers had Bishop Stafford's coat-of-arms engraved in it's stonework.

The people solved the problem of maintaining the Castle by apparently allocating each of the towers to one of the electoral wards of the Town. Everybody had an interest in its maintenance because every inhabitant was responsible for taking their part in the 'watch and ward' at the Castle. Three Aldermen and six Councillors were allocated to each of the towers in time of attack, with the Mayor taking position in the one overlooking g the harbour entrance.

Plymouth Castle slowly played a less important role and by 1610 it had become a workhouse. In 1624 it was partly destroyed by fire. The Castle was last used for defence during the Civil War Siege of Plymouth. Once the Royal Citadel had been erected in the middle of the seventeenth century, the Castle had no practical use at all.

By 1807 the only remains were the base of one tower, measuring 30 feet in diameter, and the gateway in Lambhay Street, which survived longest because it was used as a dwelling.

The remains of the gateway to Plymouth Castle as depicted in 1887.

The remains of the gateway of Plymouth Castle,
as depicted in 1887.