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Gidleigh Castle, on the north-eastern edge of Dartmoor, Devon was built in about 1300 by the Prouz family,[1] who had held the manor of Gidleigh from at least the latter half of the 12th century.[2] Now ruinous, the keep tower is the only standing remains of this Grade I listed buildingStructure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection..[1]
The castle was probably built by Sir William Prouz,[3] the last of the senior male line of the family, who died in 1316.[4] It subsequently descended through the female line until its purchase by Bartholomew Gidley in 1683, by which time it had probably been derelict for more than a hundred years.[5]
Michael and Swana Hardy bought Gidleigh Castle in 1983.[6]
Architecture
Although it has been known as a castle since at least the 17th century,[2] Gidleigh Castle is now considered to have been a fortified manor house rather than a true castle. Its position on a slope would have made it difficult to defend, and the only features that indicate strength are the six-foot-thick buttressed walls and the slots in the doorways intended for draw bars.[3]
All that survives of the castle today is a small, ruined keep tower with an undercroft and a hall or solarRoom in many medieval manor houses, designed as the family's private quarters. above. A stairway within the west and south walls links the two, and there was also an external newel stairway (now mostly collapsed) on the east wall. A fireplace in the hall has been much altered; it is flanked by two windows, one with seats. There may have been a timber or less strongly built stone hall to the north, evidenced by a doorway in that wall.[3]