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Trematon Castle is a Norman motte and bailey castle located near Saltash in Cornwall, England, dating from the early twelfth century. The castle is centred upon a substantial motte crowned with a stone shell keep, a circular defensive wall built directly upon the mound rather than a conventional stone tower. The earthwork fortification originally incorporated a bailey, or outer court, secured by ditches and ramparts, though the surviving structures now focus primarily upon the impressive motte and its stone keep. The castle represents a significant evolution in defensive architecture, demonstrating the transition from wholly earthen fortifications to hybrid structures combining earthwork and stone construction, and remained strategically important throughout the medieval period as a military stronghold commanding the River Tamar crossing.
Trematon Castle, a shell keep built on a motte and bailey castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1004384. View the official record →
Trematon Castle is a Norman motte and bailey castle located near Saltash in Cornwall, England, dating from the early twelfth century. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1004384.
Trematon Castle, a shell keep built on a motte and bailey 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 1004384.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Whitsand Bay practice battery (6.5 km), Whitsand Bay Battery (6.6 km), Battery with Royal Commission fortifications called Redoubt No.5 at Maker Heights (6.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Trematon Castle, a shell keep built on a motte and bailey castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Trematon Castle, a shell keep built on a motte and bailey castle stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.