Author
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Topic: castle search
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cbond Member
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posted 06-17-2001 12:51 PM
Looking for any information on the ancient English fortress castle Tremerton located in Cornwall near the Plymouth Harbor and nearby on the bank of the Lymer River the old homestead of the Bond family which was known as Earth. reply to: cbond@shentel.net |
AJR Senior Member
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posted 06-18-2001 01:23 AM
Off the top of my head, I don't recall a Tremerton Castle - however, there is a Trematon Castle near Plymouth. |
Peter Member
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posted 06-18-2001 11:43 AM
Not far off CBond. As a AJR says it is 'Trematon', and it lies near the River Lynher, not Lymer. The castle is a well preserved shell-Keep on a high mound, with a bailey to the S.W. A house was built on the site in 1808 for one Benjamin Tucker. The 'Bond's' are not mentioned regarding the castle. Will see what else turns up for you. |
Peter Member
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posted 06-18-2001 12:04 PM
At .... www.familysearch.com There are only two listing there, both for Agnes Bond (of which there are many over the years. Agnes Bond .. married about 1555 of Earth - Saltash, Cornwall. Agnes Bond Birth\Christening about 1407 at Laird at Earth Married 1428. Addition to above: on the site from numbers 176 to 200 are sites dedicated to the Bond name. [This message has been edited by Peter (edited 06-18-2001).] |
AJR Senior Member
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posted 06-19-2001 01:08 AM
One of the more interesting castles in Cornwall, Trematon is just a few miles from Saltash. The castle, mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1087, stands high over the Lynher river. Built on a Saxon site by Earl Robert de Mortain, it later passed to the Crown, and in the reign of Richard I belonged to Reginald de Valletort, who was responsible for much of the construction. The cross-loop on the keep parapet and the gatehouse were probably added by Roger de Valletort, and upon his death in 1270, the castle reverted to Richard, Earl of Cornwall. The castle was granted by Edward II to his favourite Piers Gaveston in 1307. In 1315 Peter Corbet and Henry de Pomeroy claimed possession as descendants of two Valletort heiresses, but they were unsuccessful. Edward III granted Trematon to his brother, John of Eltham. After he died in 1335 it was granted to Edward the Black Prince, and it then became part of the Duchy of Cornwall created for him in 1337. The prince may never have visited the castle, but he had it surveyed that year. This report mentions a hall, a kitchen and a block containing two storeys of lodgings, all these being of timber with plaster infilling and said to be the work of Earl Edmund, who held the castle from 1272 to 1299. A chapel within the gatehouse is also referred to. The buildings were in good condition and an annual sum of £3 was considered enough for maintenance. When a French raid on the coast was expected in 1385, the sum of £20 was spent on repairing the defences. Richard II granted Trematon to John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, executed in 1400 by Henry IV. In 1425 Henry V granted it to the Earl’s widow Elizabeth, and her second husband Sir John Cornewall. It reverted to the Crown on Sir John’s death in 1443. Edward IV carried out a few repairs and the castle was in use as a prison during Leland’s visit in 1540. Sir Richard Grenville took refuge in the castle during the Arundell rebellion of 1549. Sir Richard was seized when he slipped out of a postern gateway to negotiate with the rebels. He and his wife were stripped of their possessions, even the clothes they were wearing, the castle was captured, and Sir Richard was taken off to Launceston. Elizabeth I granted a twenty-one year lease of the castle to Thomas Brishowe, after which it was granted to the Carews. By that time the internal buildings were ruined although the castle continued to accommodate prisoners and was used to store treasure brought back by Sir Francis Drake from the Indes. The castle was briefly occupied during the 1640s, but saw no action in the Civil War. A Parliamentary report shows it still held prisoners in 1650, and petty courts were held here every three weeks. The castle consists of a well preserved shell keep on a mound high above the Lynher river, with a bailey extending to the south-west. The shell wall is 8ft (2.4m) thick above a substantial battered plinth, and 22ft (6.8m) high to a wall walk which still retains its parapet. The parapet has merlons between 5ft and 6ft (1.7m) high, one cross-loop with a triangular foot being preserved on the western side. The oval courtyard inside measures about 74ft (22.6m) by 58ft (17.6m), and has slight traces of former lean-to buildings. There are no latrines or staircases, the only opening in the shell wall being a round arched doorway 7ft (2.2m) wide with a drawbar slot. The bailey extends for 295ft (90m) from the keep and is 230ft (70m) wide. On the east side the curtain still extends up the motte slope to the keep. There is a postern on the north-west at the foot of the mound, but there are no towers or turrets apart from the gatehouse at the foot of the mound on the east side. The gatehouse is a fine structure about 33ft (10m) square projecting entirely outside the curtain. The approach is commanded by two arrow loops, while the passage, which rises steeply, was closed by portcullises at the inner and outer ends, and a two-leaved door in the middle, the inner section being flanked by tiny guardrooms in the thickness of the walls. A spiral staircase leads up from the courtyard to two upper rooms, both with fireplaces with stiff-leaf capitals. The lower room has mural chambers on each side and the upper room has a passage leading to a latrine. The curtain wall curving round from the gatehouse along the south side of the bailey to a sharp turn at the south-west corner, was demolished to give a view of the sea from a house built in 1808 as a residence for Benjamin Tucker, Surveyor-General of the Duchy of Cornwall, who held the castle on a ninety-nine year lease. The remaining parts of the bailey walls still have their original parapets with narrow crenellations. Today the castle is in private hands and not open to the public.Taken from The Castles of Devon & Cornwall by Mike Salter, and Discovering Castles in England & Wales by John Kinross. |
Peter Member
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posted 06-19-2001 11:54 AM
Strange, the castle is nowhere near the village of the same name. Which is north-west of Saltash. It is not very far from Ince Castle. Regarding the name asked for. Somewhat south-west, by the edge of the river. Lies the house known as ' Erth Barton'. It is fairly isolated, the nearby lowlying (to the east) hill simply called 'Erth Hill'. Being on the border with Devon, you will find the name 'Bond' crops up all around the borders of these two counties. |
AJR Senior Member
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posted 06-20-2001 01:48 AM
There's are rather good pictures of the castle at http://members.madasafish.com/~stevejohnson/saltash/trem18.jpg http://members.madasafish.com/~stevejohnson/saltash/trem1.jpg
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AJR Senior Member
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posted 06-20-2001 01:51 AM
There's even an aerial picture of Erth Barton at http://members.madasafish.com/~stevejohnson/saltash/erthb1.jpg
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Peter Member
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posted 06-24-2001 12:57 PM
I've just been browsing the books regarding 'Erth Barton'. I see in Margaret Woods ' The English Mediaeval House' there is a mention. This is regarding the chapel; which is placed on the 1st floor and dated early 14th century ! It is very possible the Erth Barton may have been a fortified building being this early, in such a position, and having a chapel. Will have to see where this leads us. | |