Hemyock Castle: Historic Manor House: Evolution & Repeated Re-invention

The evolution and repeated re-invention of Hemyock Manor House

Few records remain about the history of the site. Some records were sent to Exeter during World War II for safe keeping. But they were stored in a basement which was flooded in the Blitz.

These sketches are deductions from available clues. In rural Devon, little is wasted, so the Hemyock Castle site has been repeatedly adapted and re-invented to suit the changing needs of each era.

1. Romano-British Period in about 150 AD
Rather than a Roman Villa, it is more likely that there was a Roman fort on this site: Previous historians remarked that the dimensions match those of a fort.

Roman forts were required to keep a year's worth of food in a substantial, well-built granary.

2. Anglo-Saxon Hall in about 900 AD
Hemyock is recorded as a hunting estate. By this time, many of the old Roman buildings would have crumbled. Perhaps the well-built Roman Granary had survived better and so was suitable for re-use as an Anglo-Saxon Hall?

3. Norman Wooden Tower in about 1080 AD
After the 1066 Norman Conquest, the new owners would quickly have built a wooden defensive tower, possibly next to the old Anglo-Saxon Hall.

4. Norman Stone Tower in about 1120 AD
In time, the old wooden tower would have been replaced by a more substantial, more permanent stone tower, probably adjacent to the old Anglo-Saxon Hall.

5. Later this evolved into a fortified manor house with a great hall.
During the 13th century, it was said to have been a "court."

As times and fashions changed, it became a "hall house," with at least one "solar" above the hall for the lord and important guests. There were "service" rooms beyond the cross or "screens" passage.

This layout was probably largely retained when the fortified manor house became a castle. Parts seem to have been absorbed or replace by the new castle defences, especially by the massive eastern gatehouse.

6. Hemyock Castle Farm until about 1970
Hemyock Castle was "slighted" (destroyed) during the 1660, after the English Civil war. The manor house was probably also badly damaged during and after the fighting.

The new owners of the site converted the ruins into a farmhouse and farm. Inside the manor house, particularly in the roof, there are traces of earlier phases; including smoke-blackened beams from the open fire in the old great hall, fragments of medieval plaster ceilings, and the way that the later chimney stacks were cut into the great hall. Woodwork shows traces of the old "solars" and of the "screens passage."

As fashions changed, more first-floor rooms were added. There were inglenooks with bread ovens, and a dairy at the north end of the building.

General Simcoe who bought Hemyock and the castle site during the late 18th century, wanted to restore the castle to its former glory. Before his untimely death in 1806, he added "gothic" features and the impressive granite door archway he obtained from Cornwall.

The site and manor house later returned to being a tenanted farm. The southern end, under the old stone tower, became a cider cellar for commercial production of farm cider.

After the last farmer left, the now almost derelict site was sold during the early 1970s. The new owner started stabilizing and modernising the manor house.

During the 1980s, the castle site was sold again, triggering the mammoth project to convert the manor house into a home, conserve the ruins, convert outbuildings into homes, and open the site to visitors.

These never-ending tasks continue. How will future generations adapt this historic house and site?

For more, see the Hemyock Castle website:
https://www.hemyockcastle.uk/