Hemyock Castle is a privately owned scheduled Ancient Monument & residential site,
normally only opened to the public during special open days on Bank Holiday Mondays (2 to 5 pm) between Easter and September.
"The remains of a moated, rare late 14th century castle surround a much older manor house. During the 17th century English Civil War, the castle was garrisoned for Parliament. The Royalists attacked twice, eventually besieging and capturing Hemyock Castle. Afterwards, the castle was slighted (destroyed). Subsequently the site evolved to become a farm, and later a private home. Former outbuildings have also been converted into homes.
Hemyock Castle is set in the Culm Valley amongst the now tranquil Blackdown Hills in Devon England, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty just a few miles from the M5 Motorway and Taunton.
Although situated in the heart of Hemyock village, the castle site is screened by trees and walls, so surprisingly little can be seen from the road. The whole site is enclosed by substantial walls, fences and gates.
The castle plan is typical of small late medieval castles: a rectangular site with high round corner towers and central interval towers, connected by a high curtain wall; all topped with crenellations. Most buildings were of chert, a local flint stone. The exterior was rendered and painted white.
The castle was in use from 1380 until the 1660s. According to local tradition, Hemyock Castle was slighted — ie. partly demolished — soon after the restoration of King Charles II, because during the civil war, it had been held for Parliament against King Charles I.
Today, substantial fragments remain of the massive gate house, several towers, walls, and part of the moat. The manor house is a private house. Several of the historic surrounding buildings have been converted into comfortable holiday cottages.
Originally, this was possibly a Roman, a Romano-British farm, or a Roman stronghold. But there has not yet been a proper excavation. Much has yet to be discovered. There are legends of secret passages and buried treasure.
General Simcoe suggested that the ground plan of the site was similar to that of Roman strongholds (He mentioned the citadel at Cairo). He believed that it may have been built to protect Roman iron smelting at the nearby iron pits. Scoria and cinders are found on the site.
During the 1100s the Norman Hidon family built a fortified manor house. Later, the Dynhams (originally from Brittany) married into the family.
On 5th November 1380, King Richard II granted Sir William and Lady Asthorpe (née Dynham) licence to crenellate their fortified manor house.
The plan of the castle has similarities with Bodiam Castle, built some 5 years later in Kent.
Two towers at the front, about 13 metres (40 feet) high, formed the entrance gate house. This housed the portcullis and the drawbridge over the moat
The curtain walls, about 7 metres (20 feet) high, were pierced by putlog holes through which wooden beams projected to support the roofed galleries (hourdes). From the safety of these, defenders could fire arrows and missiles, or pour noxious liquids onto any attackers who crossed the moat.
By the 1600s, Hemyock castle and most of Hemyock belonged to Sir John Popham, who as Lord Chief Justice, sentenced Sir Walter Raleigh, Mary Queen of Scots, and Guy Fawkes to death. (The original licence to crenellate Hemyock Castle had been granted on 5th November 1380!) According to local legend, Sir John is reputed to have been rewarded for his controversial life by being thrown from his horse into Popham's Pit, a deep local bog, dying horribly, and descending to Hell.
During the Civil War (mid 1600s) the castle was garrisoned by the Pophams for Parliament and used to imprison Royalists. Eventually, after a short brutal siege in 1644, it was captured by the Royalists. 200 prisoners were released. 3 of the garrison were hanged immediately, and the remainder marched off to prison in Exeter. Not long afterwards, it was recaptured and held for Parliament until the Restoration in 1660, when King Charles II ordered that it be slighted - ie. partly demolished - to destroy its military value.
From then, the manor house became a farm, and the castle was used as a stone quarry for local buildings. General John Graves Simcoe, bought Hemyock Castle in the 1790s following his distinguished career in the New World. One of his first acts as the first Lt. Governor of Upper Canada (Ontario) had been to abolish slavery in the province, subsequently allowing some 40,000 slaves escaping America to gain their freedom in Canada. At Hemyock, he had visions of restoring the Castle to its former glory.
The house was sold in the early 1970s, without the farm land. Work continues to discover the history, and to stabilise the castle remains."
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