England · Partial ruin
Tiverton Castle
Tiverton Castle is the remains of a medieval castle sited above the River Exe at Tiverton, Devon. Much of the medieval defensive perimeter was dismantled after the English Civil War and parts were converted to a 17th-century country house; today the site comprises surviving lengths of curtain wall, tower ruins and later domestic ranges.
First raised
1100
Its prime
1645
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1645
The shape it held in its prime.
A compact medieval castle complex of red-brown local stone composed of curtain walls punctuated by several square and rectangular tower blocks, set above the banks of the River Exe. In plan it has a Norman motte and an enclosed courtyard; entrances included a gate with a timber drawbridge. Rooflines in its prime were a mix of crenellated battlements on the curtain and pitched roofs on domestic ranges; walls and towers stood continuously around the courtyard.
Its story
The story of Tiverton Castle.
A Norman motte went up above the River Exe in 1106. Baldwin de Redvers, created 1st Earl of Devon by the Empress Matilda around 1141 during The Anarchy, headed the family that held Tiverton until the 7th Redvers earl died without progeny in 1262 and his sister Isabella de Forz became Countess of Devon in her own right, holding it until her death in 1293.
Isabella's heir was her second cousin once removed, Hugh de Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton, summoned to Parliament in 1299 and declared 1st Earl of Devon of the second creation in 1335. Tiverton Castle was the principal seat of the Courtenay Earls of Devon throughout the medieval period, among them William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, whose wife was Catherine of York.
A Royalist stronghold in the Civil War, the castle fell to Fairfax's Parliamentarians in 1645 when a lucky shot from the batteries severed a chain of the drawbridge, letting a small party of roundheads in almost before the siege had begun. The bulk of the defences was then demolished to prevent military re-use, and the remains were converted into a 17th-century country house.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1645.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Tiverton Castle — including 1 interior: interior of the 17th-century north range (domestic rooms). 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
Recreate Tiverton Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1645 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Tiverton Castle.
The families that held Tiverton Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Redvers
Held by the de Redvers Earls of Devon from Baldwin's creation as 1st Earl c. 1141 until Isabella de Forz, the last of the line, died in 1293.
Courtenay
Principal seat of the Courtenay Earls of Devon throughout the medieval period, from Hugh de Courtenay's inheritance in 1293.
