page_title: Restormel Castle
section_title: Crown ownership and fall into ruin
hierarchical_section_title: Restormel Castle / History / Crown ownership and fall into ruin
caption_attribution_description: Restormel Castle
context_page_description: Restormel Castle lies by the River Fowey near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, England, UK. It is one of the four chief Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston, Tintagel and Trematon. The castle is notable for its perfectly circular design. Although once a luxurious residence of the Earl of Cornwall, the castle was all but ruined by the 16th century. It was briefly reoccupied and fought over during the English Civil War but was subsequently abandoned. It is now under the supervision of the English Heritage and open to the public.
context_section_description: After Edmund's death in 1299 the castle reverted to the Crown, and from 1337 onwards the castle was one of the 17 antiqua maneria of the Duchy of Cornwall. It was rarely used as a residence, although Edward the Black Prince stayed at the castle in 1354 and 1365. The prince used these occasions to gather his feudal subjects at the castle in order for them to pay him homage. After the loss of Gascony, one of the key possessions of the Duchy, the contents of the castle were stripped out and removed to other residences. With an absent lord, the stewardship of the castle became much sought after as a result, and the castle and its estate became known for its efficient administration.
  The castle is recorded as having fallen into disrepair in a 1337 survey of the possessions of the Duchy of Cornwall. It was extensively repaired by order of the Black Prince but declined again following his death in 1376. By the time the antiquary John Leland saw it in the 16th century, it had fallen into ruin and had been extensively robbed for its stonework; as he put it, "the timber rooted up, the conduit pipes taken away, the roofe made sale of, the planchings rotten, the wals fallen down, and the hewed stones of the windowes, dournes, and clavels, pluct out to serve private buildings; onely there remayneth an utter defacement, to complayne upon this unregarded distresse."
  Henry VIII converted the castle's parkland back into ordinary countryside. With the castle out of use, a manor house was established during the 16th century a short distance away on lower-lying land adjoining the river. It is said to have been built on the site of a chapel dedicated to the Trinity that was destroyed during the English Reformation. Restormel Manor, now a grade II listed building, is still owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and is subdivided into luxury apartments with holiday accommodation in the outbuildings; the then Kate Middleton stayed there during the Christmas of 2009 and won a landmark victory over a paparazzo who photographed her there.
  Restormel has seen action only once during its long history, when a Parliamentary garrison occupied the crumbling ruins and made some basic repairs during the Civil War. It was invested by an opposing force loyal to Charles I, led by Sir Richard Grenville, a local member of the gentry who had been the member of Parliament for Fowey before the war. Grenville stormed the castle on 21 August 1644, whilst manoeuvring to encircle Parliamentary forces. It is not clear whether it was subsequently slighted but in an Parliamentary survey of 1649, it was recorded to be utterly ruined with only the outer walls still standing, and was deemed to be too badly ruined to be repaired and too worthless for there to be any value in demolishing it.
  By the 19th century it had become a popular attraction for visitors. The French writer Henri-François-Alphonse Esquiros, who wrote about a visit to the castle in 1865, described the ruins as forming "what the English call a romantic scene." He noted that the ivy-covered ruins attracted visitors from the environs who went there "for picnics and parties of pleasure". In 1846 the British royal family visited the castle; arriving on their yacht the Victoria and Albert up the River Fowey, the royal party toured the ruins.
caption: The inner chambers of Restormel Castle
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