OKEHAMPTON CASTLE

Devon

It is at Okehampton Castle that we first meet the Courtenay family who went on to dominate Devon as the Earls of Devon throughout the medieval period; and who were also responsible for Castles at Tiverton, Bickleigh and Powderham, and they inherited the ancient Castle at Plympton.

Okehampton though has a history before the Courtenays.  It was founded very soon after the Norman Conquest reached Devon, probably by Baldwin de Brionne as a wooden and earth Castle; the motte and bailey layout still survives.

It wasn't until the arrival of Hugh Courtenay in 1297 that the Castle was rebuilt in stone, and most of what remains today is Hugh's work.  It remained the popular home of the Courtenay Earls until Henry fell out of favour with Henry VIII in 1539 and lost his head (and his lands).

Okehampton Castle vanishes into history from this point and seems to have been unaffected by the Civil War which rent so many of Devon's other Castles.  So perhaps the decay at Okehampton is purely the ravages of time; rather than those of General Fairfax.

Okehampton has a superb ghost in the shape of the evil Lady Howard who has to drive her phantom coach from Tavistock across the wilds of Dartmoor to here, where upon one of the hounds which draw the coach plucks a blade of grass from Okehampton Castle.  She then returns to Tavistock...once she has plucked all the grass from the Castle her ghost will be allowed to rest.

The ruins are still imposing today and are owned by English Heritage.

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2001