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<< Our Photo Pages >> Axminster Castle - Hillfort in England in Devon

Submitted by vicky on Thursday, 25 March 2004  Page Views: 12042

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Axminster Castle
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 3.574 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Devon Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Axminster
Map Ref: SY296986  Landranger Map Number: 193
Latitude: 50.782683N  Longitude: 2.999973W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 2 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 3

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Axminster Castle
Axminster Castle submitted by AngieLake : This is the Castle pub with its board showing an artist's impression of the castle, but I've not done any research on this. The photos of the church follow. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Devon

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Axminster Castle
Axminster Castle submitted by AngieLake : The large cream coloured building above a line of shops, centre in this photo, was the site of the Old Bell Hotel, which was possibly on the site of the ancient castle. That castle was said to have been build on the site of the ancient hillfort 'castle'. (See Historic England and Heritage Gateway records in latest comment below.) The old photo can be found here: https://tuckdbpostcards.org/... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Axminster Castle
Axminster Castle submitted by AngieLake : St Mary the Virgin Minster church at Axminster, the possible site of a 'castle'. (See comments on site page). Taken on my only visit to the town in 2014. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Axminster Castle
Axminster Castle submitted by AngieLake : The tower of St Mary the Virgin Minster Church at Axminster, taken in 2014. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Axminster Castle
Axminster Castle submitted by AngieLake : Following the comment about Axminster Castle, I thought I'd look for my 2014 photos for any evidence. This is the only time I'd visited the town. I walked right down Castle St to the railway crossing near the river. There's a pub around here with a board with artistic interpretation of a 'castle'. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SY2998 : Castle Garage, Axminster by Jonathan Billinger
by Jonathan Billinger
©2022(licence)
SY2998 : We Serve You by Jonathan Billinger
by Jonathan Billinger
©2022(licence)
SY2998 : Axminster: West Street and Castle Street by Martin Bodman
by Martin Bodman
©2007(licence)
SY2998 : Orange Way in Devon and Torbay (496) by Shazz
by Shazz
©2012(licence)
SY2998 : The Old Chapel, Axminster by Chris Allen
by Chris Allen
©2020(licence)

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"Axminster Castle" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Axminster Castle by AngieLake on Thursday, 24 March 2022
(User Info | Send a Message)
Today's comment by Mark D Bishop prompted me to look into Google links to this mystery and I copied off items of interest:

Historic England Research Records
Axminster Castle
Hob Uid: 449542
Grid Ref : SY2968098600
Summary : Alleged site of a castle and/or hillfort. Conclusion based on sections of flint wall found in buildings and trenches near the alleged site in the C19th, and reported observations of a ditch.
More information : "Axminster Castle, now entirely destroyed", is
included in a list of prehistoric earthworks. (1)

(SY 29689860): 'The Castle' within the town is an open space
occupied by the market place. It is topographically suitable
for a prehistoric defensive work and there are distinct traces
of a ditch. A castle was later erected on the site and though
no vestige of this building remains associated relics may be
the thick walls of the Bell Hotel cellars and the ancient
arched well. In 1824 trench digging in the garden of Castle
Hill House revealed flint walls 10 ft. thick which could be
part of the castle. (2).

Also:

Heritage Gateway Devon & Dartmoor HER
The Bell or Old Bell inn, one of the three principal inns at which carrier waggons stopped. It burnt down in 1836 together with at least nine other dwellings. It was rebuilt as a hotel, the upper floors of which survive above a row of modern shops (built after the hotel closed). There is a reference to the remains of a dripping well 'from the castle' on the premises of the Bell Hotel. Pulman suggested that it stood on the site of the castle.
HER Number: MDV63678
Name: The Bell Inn, Axminster

Online was also an old postcard showing the Bell Hotel when it existed, and have a photo of the building in its current form in 2014, which is posted above.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Axminster Castle by Anonymous on Thursday, 24 March 2022
Looking at the present topography of Axminster, it would appear that the hillfort has been superficially obliterated by the town's development over the centuries. I believe it could possibly be traced by archaeological research and I would suggest a starting point as being the minster which probably occupies the central area. The way some streets fall away to the west would suggest that the original 'castle' had very steep ramparts.
Regards, Mark D Bishop
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Axminster Castle by MikeGreen on Saturday, 21 July 2007
(User Info | Send a Message)
Down the river Axe on the east side (ooposite side to Blackbury Castle) there are two hillforts - Musbury Castle and Hawksdown Camp
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Axminster Castle by baz on Saturday, 25 September 2004
(User Info | Send a Message)
You've probably never heard of it because there's no obvious evidence remaining that points to Axminster Castle ever existing.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Axminster Castle by Anonymous on Saturday, 25 September 2004
Must be called something else locally, because I have never heard of Axminster Castle.
Is it Membury or Musbury or Stockland or ...
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