England · Partial ruin
Lydford Castle
Lydford Castle is a medieval stone tower and bailey in the town of Lydford, Devon, long used as a prison and court administering stannary and forest law. The principal tower was rebuilt and deliberately set into an earthen mound in the mid-13th century and the site functioned as a legal centre for centuries. The separate early Norman ringwork earthworks survive nearby and are owned by the National Trust; the castle later passed to the Duchy of Cornwall and is now in state care.
Its prime
1265
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1265
The shape it held in its prime.
Square stone tower roughly 15 by 14 metres, built of local slate and granite with very thick walls and narrow arrow slits, set part-buried into a man-made earth mound about 5 metres high around its base; the tower rises above a rectangular bailey protected by earthen ramparts and deep surrounding ditches. The tower exterior shows coursed granite repairs and a simpler higher upper storey; internally a spine wall divides each floor into two rooms and the ground level contains a deep cellar or pit.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1265.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Lydford Castle — including 4 interiors: first-floor prison chambers / entrance level, ground-floor cellar / puteus (prison pit), second-floor hall and courtroom and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
See Lydford Castle with the fires lit.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1265 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →
