Home Page Okehampton Castle - Devon  
One of the largest castle ruins in the South West, it is sited on a long, thin shale outcrop in a wooded valley just outside the town of Okehampton. The castle was probably built after 1068, by Baldwin de Brionne, Sheriff of Devon who had been given extensive lands in Devon for helping William the Conqueror suppress a Saxon revolt in the West Country. The castle started out as a motte, which gained a stone keep in the late 11th century. In 1172 Okehampton came into the ownership of the Courtenay family, one of the great aristocratic families of England. They continued to hold the castle for the next 350 years. From the 12th century, the main use of the castle was as a hunting lodge as the surrounding estates were rich hunting grounds filled with deer and wild boar. A second building was added to the keep in the early 14th century, along with a range of new buildings further down the ridge. The castle was abandoned in 1539 after its owner, Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, was found guilty of conspiracy and executed by Henry VIII.
Okehampton Castle Okehampton Castle Okehampton Castle Okehampton Castle Okehampton Castle - The Chapel Okehampton Castle - The Great Hall
Okehampton Castle - The Chapel The Stone Keep