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Launceston Castle by Alan Neal

It is not surprising that Launceston Castle was a favourite of Victorian artists. They loved to dramatise their subjects making them higher and more precipitous than in real life, adding stormclouds and vivid flashes of lightning to enhance the whole effect. But with Launceston very few of these additions were needed. The drama they sought was already there, and all due to natural causes. The rugged steep sided spur on which castle and town now stand are the result of a volcanic eruption somewhere in the Pipers Pool area in the Miocene period, between 22.5 and 3 million years ago, forming a stream of lava five miles long and two miles wide.

The castle was originally built by Brian de Bretagne, the first Norman Earl of Cornwall. In 1069, Brian had led an army against the forces of the sons of king Harold, who had died at the Battle of Hastings three years before; but he must in some way have been disloyal to his master William I, for his possessions were conviscated, and given to the King's half brother, Robert, Count of Mortain. Robert was powerful, immensely wealthy, and apart from the King, the greatest landowner in England, owning 793 manors, and huge estates in 20 counties. He also owned more then two thirds of Cornwall. Much of his land had been seized from the Church, an activity for which Robert was well noted.

The first known references to Launceston Castle are in Domesday Book. It was probably constructed in the first years after the Conquest, following the siege of Exeter in 1067. Between the conquest and 1100, around 100 castles were built, and these were of wood rather than stone, which was to follow later. The castle controlled the main land route into Cornwall across the lowest fording point over the river Tamar, and all of the country between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. The impressive and commanding site was obviously a desirable one, for in order to obtain it, two manors had to be exchanged with the Bishop of Exeter, its previous owner. It is possible that part of the prestige gained from ownership was derived from its distant past, Dunheved being the ancient name for the old Cornish capital. In the 16th century, the Elizabethan topographer John Norden records it as being DEN-HEU-ED. Dun is Celtic for hill, or citadel; Heued, or Heved probably refers to Hu or Hew, a pre-Christian deity relating to the rising sun. A fair used to be held on midsummer's day at Launceston, and this could have derived from a former pagan rite once practised there.

The present day St. Stephens, across the valley to the north, was the site of the original Saxon town, Lanstephan, meaning the monastic enclosure of St. Stephen. In the pre-conquest period it was a wealthy ecclesiastical foundation with a Royal Mint.

Robert of Mortain was responsible for founding the "new town by the Castle of Dunheved", which was developed to the north and east of the castle. The Norman Conquest was the occasion of the foundation of new towns in England and Wales on some scale. The conquerers and their successors planted settlements which were often fortified, to go with their new castles, to establish their lordship in and over the kingdom. The castle itself was a constant reminder to the local populace of the feudal power and authority of the lord. Other examples of this combination of town and fortress can be seen at Barnard Castle, Castle Acre, Cause, Kidwelly, Ludlow and Pleshey. Castles offered prosperity and security, and thus attracted settlement. The lords benefitted not only from the prestige of such places, but also from the profits of tolls, rents and services. In this way towns developed at the foot of castles in the mutual benefit of the whole community.

The first Launceston castle comprised a massive motte, or mound, part artificial, part volcanic rock, at the north end of a ridge, with a large bailey, or castle yard to the south. This bailey was evidently as formidable as the motte, save on the west where the natural level falls steeply. At this time there was only one main gate, and that was to the north.

Robert of Mortain's son and successor, William, was involved in a revolt against King Henry I, and subsequently his lands were forfeited to the king. The Earldom was then bestowed on Reginald de Dunstanville, one of Henry's 14 illegitimate children, who held the title and castle from 1141 to 1175. Much construction work was carried out during this period, and this is probably when the shell keep and the original south gatehouse were built. In 1166, Launceston was established as Cornwall's Assize Court, and it remained so until 1840, when the Assizes were moved to Bodmin.

In 1189, the title passed to the future King John. During his war with the barons which culminated with the signing of Magna Carta in 1215, the castle was held for the King by John fitzRichard.

By the 12th century , the town had become walled (it was the only walled town in Cornwall). From the Earldom of Robert of Mortain, Launceston had been recognised as the capital of Cornwall - a Royal borough - and remained so until 1895. Fragments of the later town walls and one gate, the Southeast, survive. Throughout the Middle Ages, Launceston pertained to the Earldom and (since 1337) the Duchy of Cornwall, and the castle at least still does, though its maintenance was placed in the hands of the Ministry of Works in 1951, followed later by its successors, English Heritage.

In 1227, Henry III's brother Richard became Earl of Cornwall, and this was the castle's principal period of development. It was then that the cylindrical two-storied tower was raised in the motte within the shell keep. The narrow space between the shell wall and the tower was roofed over. The structure contained grand ceremonial apartments, and was reached by a covered flight of steps leading from the bailey, with a guard tower at the bottom. Richard was wealthy, powerful and politically ambitious. Most of the visible parts of the castle belong to this period (1227-1272), including the south gate in the form we see today. Like most of the work carried out by Richard, it was built to impress, with tall towers, portcullis, drawbridge and barbican, and it led out to his private deer park The barbican survived until the 19th century, when it was demolished to make way for the new St. Thomas road, built to avoid the precipitous Northgate Street.

After Richard's death in 1272, his son and successor to the earldom, Edmund, moved his administration to Lostwithiel, one of the Cornish Stannary towns (he derived a large income from the tinners). He chose Restormal Castle as his place of residence.

In 1337, the Earldom passed to Edward the Black Prince (an epithet deriving from the black armour he wore), the son of Edward III. He was to become the first Duke of Cornwall, starting the tradition that the eldest son of the monarch should hold the Dukedom. At this time, a great deal of repair work and restoration was carried out on the castle, and throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, it was adequately maintained.

The bailey was not always as we see it today, an empty space. There were a great many buildings here, some of which were revealed in the 1961 excavations. Among these would have been the Duke's hall and lodgings, the chapel, the constable's hall and lodgings, kitchens, two stables for ten horses, an assize court and prison, various administrative offices, as well as numerous dwellings.

Decay set in during the 16th century, and was far advanced by the 17th, though certain public buildings required for the administration of the county were kept up until 1840, when the assizes were moved to Bodmin and the gaols were demolished. Later the bailey was landscaped and turned into public gardens.

Of all the prisoners who must over the years have been incarcerated within the grim walls of what was once known as Castle Terrible, two are worthy of particular note. The first, a Roman Catholic priest named Cuthbert Mayne, had been arrested in 1577 at Tregain Mansion at Golden, Probus, together with the owner of the house, Francis Tregain. Mayne was imprisoned for several months before his trial, when he was found guilty of practising the Catholic religion and refusing to accept Elizabeth I as supreme Head of the Church. He was dragged through the streets of Launceston on a hurdle to the town square, where he was hanged, drawn and quartered. His head, stuck on a pike, was displayed over the Castle gate, and the quarters of his body were displayed at Barnstaple, Bodmin, Wadebridge and Tregony. He has since been canonised by the Catholic church, and every June an annual pilgrimage is held in his honour in Launceston.

The second prisoner was George fox, founder of the Society of Friends. He and two others, Edward Pyot and William Salt, were arrested in St. Ives in 1656, accused of distributing religious tracts. At their trial, they were found guilty of sedition, and were locked up in the worst part of the castle prison, known as Doomsdale. Here they were kept in foul conditions, refusing to pay fines imposed on them by the court, and the extortionate demands of their gaoler (an ex-convict himself) for their own and their horses' keep. News of their treatment reached the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell who sent his brother-in-law, Major general Desborough to investigate the situation, and this eventually led to their unconditional release.

Today, the 19th century public gardens are gone, and only the bare walls of the once imposing fortress remain, cleared of ivy, re-pointed and surrounded by tidy lawns. On a fine summer's day it is a peaceful place to wander and contemplate the past; a far cry from the fearful reputation of "Castle Terrible." But come here in winter when dark stormclouds are billowing in from the moor, and the flag at its summit is flapping wildly. In the fading evening light the great keep looms over the huddled houses of the town, protecting, guarding, yet with the ever watchful gaze of feudal authority. The past is never far away - little has changed.