England #15- Okehampton Castle, Devon

I really AM going to finish this one day. Or at the very least move on to Week 2. SO, here we are, still on our last day in Cornwall, May 5! Although technically we’re in Devon at this point, as we’ve gone from Bodmin Jail , to Launceston Castle , and onward to Okehampton. Okehampton is about half an hour northeast of Launceston, and is on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. This was a happy location for driving back to Bodmin right through the middle of Dartmoor, so we managed to pack quite a lot of sightseeing into one day.

Okehampton Castle is yet another amazing ruin, and another English Heritage site so we got in with our pass. It’s the remains of the largest castle in Devon, was built between 1068-1086, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In 1172 it became the property of the Courtenay family, who were Earls of Devon, and they owned it for 350 years. They turned it into a luxurious home, with parks and a lot of additions to the castle, and used it as a part-time residence. Until Henry Courtenay became part of his cousin Henry VIII’s court, and subsequently got his head lopped off 1538. After that, the castle was abandoned, fell to ruins, and gained a reputation for being haunted. Interestingly, during the late 1700s, romantic picturesque landscapes became all the rage with poets and writers and wealthy sight-seers, and Okehampton became a popular subject for painters – JMW Turner painted it in 1824:

And William  Woolnoth engraved it:

It’s way up on a hill, above the River Okement – a great defensive location for a castle! I don’t think those views were from quite the spot we were in, as it was definitely on a hill but didn’t look quite that far up in the air. This was the view walking to it from the parking area:

You walk through a large area which at one time held all sorts of stuff- chapel, kitchen, great hall, courtyard houses. It’s a lot bigger area than Launceston Castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a kitchen at one time.

 

 

 

 

The remains of the keep were up on the highest point.

 

 

 

And, like Launceston, the views were amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see 18th century graffiti on the rock – from the days of the sightseers who came looking for romantic landscapes.

 

Kim on the left and me in the arch, looking all happy about getting to be 21st century sightseers!

 

And since this was so very picture-heavy, and the drive across Dartmoor will be picture heavy as well, that will wait till another day.