Scheduled Monuments›England›Plympton Castle

Plympton Castle

England
List entry 1003865
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1003865
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
1.47 hectares
Grid reference
SX 54407 55784
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Plympton Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey fortification situated near Plymouth in Devon, England. The castle was established in the eleventh century following the Norman Conquest and served as an important administrative and defensive stronghold for the earldom of Devon. The site comprises a substantial earthwork mound with surrounding ditches, representing typical Norman military engineering of the period. Although no significant stone structures survive above ground, the surviving earthworks demonstrate the strategic importance of this location in medieval Devon.

Plympton Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003865. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Plympton Castle?

Plympton Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey fortification situated near Plymouth in Devon, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003865.

Who is responsible for protecting Plympton Castle?

Plympton Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1003865.

What other scheduled monuments are near Plympton Castle?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Round barrow on Burrow Hill (4.3 km), The Goreus Stone, immediately west of St Bartholomew's Church (5.3 km), Worth's Cattedown Bone Cave 150m north of Cattedown Wharves (5.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Plympton Castle

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Plympton Castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Round barrow on Burrow Hill
4.3 km
The Goreus Stone, immediately west of St Bartholomew's Church
5.3 km
Worth's Cattedown Bone Cave 150m north of Cattedown Wharves
5.4 km
Fort Stamford
5.9 km
Mount Batten: prehistoric and Romano-British settlement
6.2 km
Mount Batten: 17th century artillery tower, Civil War breastwork, and World War II remains
6.4 km
Staddon Heights Defences including Fort Staddon Fort, Brownhill Battery, Watch House Battery, Staddon Heights Battery, Staddon Battery and associated features and structures
7.2 km
Three bowl barrows at Creacombe Farm
7.5 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Plympton Castle

Plympton Castle stands on Middle Devonian (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

Domesday entry for Torridge, Devon →
All Scheduled Monuments