Enmore Castle

Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameEnmore Castle
Alternative Names
Historic CountrySomerset
Modern AuthoritySomerset
1974 AuthoritySomerset
Civil ParishEnmore

The original castle at Enmore is said to have been pulled down in the C18, and a large mansion, of which the present house is only a remnant, was built shortly before 1779. Collinson described a dry moat surrounding the building and Mackenzie accepts this as part of the defences of the earlier manor house There is a 1792 account of a drawbridge over this moat. Now there is no trace of a moat, but its course may be represented by underground brick-lined cellarage which encloses the house on the E, W and S sides (OS record card, 1964)

No evidence of a castle before the C18, nor of a moat. The Castle was built in the 1750s. A plan of c1833 shows stew ponds in the corners of the moat, the stables were underground and not in the castle building. Part of the moat does survive on the W side but it is not at its original depth of 16ft. Most of the castle was demolished in 1834-5 and is now mostly C20. Now divided into two parts but a large area of the underground section survives (Siraut, M., 1989, per corr). (Somerset HER)

Gatehouse Comments

The castle name is clearly a latter one relating to the C18 house, which was built in a castellated style. The medieval precursor house of the Malet's does seem to have been a sizeable house with reasonable evidence it was moated and a suggestion it had a gatehouse and it may well have had battlements and other architectural features reflecting the knightly status of the Malet family. How much this could be described as 'fortified' is a matter of debate and opinion. Called 'possible' by David Cathcart King who usually used that term for sites he had considerable doubts about.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST239352
Latitude51.1115989685059
Longitude-3.08800005912781
Eastings323920
Northings135260
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p. 75
  • Dunning, R.W. (ed), 1992, VCH Somerset Vol. 6 p. 38-9 online transcription
  • Dunning, R.W., 1991, Some Somerset Country Houses (The Dovecote Press) p. 49-53
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 446 (possible)
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 57 online copy
  • Collinson, J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset (Bath) Vol. 1 p. 94 online copy

Journals

  • 1930-2, Notes and queries for Somerset and Dorset Vol. 20 p. 1071
  • 1762, London Magazine p. 439