Click on any of the button to your right to get more information on particular Cornish Castles.

Cornish Castles

Throughout history, Cornwall has always been of importance to the ruler of the day due to the trade and tax revenues of the export of Tin. As a prime constituent of Bronze, Tin has been in demand since 3500BC and given that the only known major European deposits are in North West Spain and Cornwall, it follows that there would have been major trading routes to Cornwall for Tin.

Pre-historic Castles

There are many remains of ancient hill forts and cliff-top castles throughout Cornwall with Tintagel being the most famous. Mostly you will just find the remains of ramparts and ditches that were part of the original defences and it is well worth considering that these were often the fortified element of much larger communities where people and their stock could be more easily defended.

There are few Roman fortifications that have been found in Cornwall and this may be due to the fact that the level of trade in the South West was such that the Romans never needed to do more than keep a watching brief over what was already a thriving and self-regulating industry.

Medieval Castles

After 1066, William the Conqueror proceeded along the South Coast of England and built 3 wooden forts in Cornwall to protect his access to the Tin revenues before proceeding to London. It could well be that the White Tower was built and paid for as a direct result of the White metal. One of these wooden forts at Lostwithiel was rebuilt in stone as a shell keep for the Black Prince, and though this was likely to have been more as a palace for entertainment than a defensive stronghold. The postion of the original wooden fort overlooking the river Fowey, a major trade route for the alluvial tin mined on Bodmin Moor, would have been strategic.

Tudor Castles

Cornwall was targeted after the reformation by Catholic France and Spain. After several raids by marauders, Henry VIII commissioned improved and new fortifications along the South coast of Britain. The principal developments in Cornwall were at Falmouth where there was need to protect the entrance to the port and ensure that access to the large deep waterway of the Carrick Roads was defended. A fortified castle was built at Pendennis on the Western edge of the Carrick Roads with a sister gun fort on the Eastern side at St Mawes.

Kim Roscoe - 2007