Restormel Castle, Cornwall

We are so excited to be exploring one of Cornwall and one of the UK’s most remarkable castles in Britain. The castle itself commands fantastic views across the valley and overlooks the surrounding beautiful Cornish countryside. The circular shell keep is one of the most complete remaining examples in the West Country. The remnants of the site and the castle rooms reveal clues to its past grandeur and give a real sense of how the other half lived. So why not join us as we explore Restormel castle.

Sometime around the year of the 1100’s the Norman Sheriff of Cornwall at the time, Baldwin Fitz Turstin established a fortification on a spur of land right above the river Fowey. The castle is described as a motte and bailey castle, but there is infact no motte or mound, just simply raised earthwork banks which when the curtain wall was later built with stone, the inner earthwork bank was removed. There is little known about the earliest castle, which would have been built of timber and the first time that Restormel is ever mentioned is in the historical records in 1264, when the leader of the Barons war, Simon de Montfort briefly seized the castle. Although those initial fortifications were built from wood, the square stone gatehouse tower that is now largely destroyed was soon added.

The circular stone curtain which is Restormel’s most unique feature was probably built by Robert de Cardinham, who was lord of the manor here from 1192-1225. Most believe the castle was created to defend the estuary, to defend the traffic going up and down the river, but it wasn’t, it was created as pure luxury and comfort, it was a hunting lodge and a countryside seat. The castle was strengthened and built by Edmund the 2nd earl of Cornwall.

When Earl Edmund died in 1299 the Earldom of Cornwall reverted to the crown, and Restormel lost its importance. After the Duchy of Cornwall was formed the castle was essentially ignored and left to decay, it was safe for a short period in 1354 when Edward, The Black Prince, son of Edward III, held court here as the first Duke of Cornwall. But when Edward died in 1376 the castle was left unused again. There was a brief moment on the historical stage for Restormel in 1644 when Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville briefly occupied it, ousting a Parliamentarian garrison, but after this brief interlude, it was left to slumber once more, falling into complete disrepair until taken into state care in 1925. It is now officially owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, but cared for by English Heritage.

Walking around we get to visit a number of rooms that would make for a grand castle, it was earl Edmund who added the curious set of curving chambers that would back onto the curtain wall, this effectively created a concentric castle fitted with kitchens a great grand hall, guest accommodation and a private solar all inside the castle walls.

When walking the ruins, something that really does make the castle seem quite rare are the holes in the walls, as you can see they are large openings but they were more known as huge picture windows that were built in when the castle was created. What’s unique too is that they were glazed, at that point in time it was very unusual to have large picture windows as opposed to say smaller window openings like arrow slits for battle.

Possibly the best experience to have here is having the site to explore from an aerial perspective. You can walk up the stairs to the battlements of the castle where you can be sure to take in all this history and get a sense of how busy life would have once been. On the wall walk it gives great opportunity to see the superb rural views from a higher vantage point. You really do get the best views around and of course you can delve more into detail over the castle itself visually exploring and imagining each of these rooms in their heyday and think about the people that would be living, working or enjoying the building.

Its not really hard to understand why Restormel is based here, aside from the tin industry and the river which would open more business opportunities, the castle’s landscape and setting is one of a kind. It’s True beautiful Cornish countryside that offers views and memories for miles. Not only is the surrounding awe inspiring, the sight of the castle above oozes excitement and grandeur that really does make this castle stand out amongst the others. When we visited, It truly exceeded our expectations, it’s interestingly designed, it has an atmospheric feel when you are walking there and especially on top of the wall walk and it’s such an impressive building with most of the rooms still very much intact, what I also like is how picturesque the place is with its true origins still wrapped in some mystery.

I think Restormel is worthy of being on anyone’s list if you are visiting the South west UK, there are a number of other castles, abbeys, churches, beaches and seaside towns worthy to take a few days to really explore and discover Cornwall’s rich heritage. We had such a great visit here at Restormel castle and hope that you all enjoyed it too.

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Till Next Time!