Best of South West England
The 20 best castles in South West England
Our curated top 20 castles in South West England, ranked by quality rating, image richness and content depth. For the complete list of 243 castles see the full castles index for South West England.
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Huntsham Castle
Devon

Huntsham Castle, Devon, England is an Iron Age Hill fort enclosure near the village of Huntsham, it is located 260 m (850 ft) above sea level on the edge of the former Parish of Tiverton. The monument
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King Charles's Castle

King Charles's Castle is a ruined artillery fort overlooking New Grimsby harbour on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. Built between 1548 and 1551 to protect the islands from French attack,
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Launceston Castle

Launceston Castle (Cornish: Kastel Lannstevan) is located in the town of Launceston, Cornwall, England. It was probably built by Robert the Count of Mortain after 1068, and initially comprised an eart
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Tintagel Castle

Tintagel Castle (Cornish: Kastel Dintagel) is a medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island adjacent to the village of Tintagel (Trevena), North Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
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Cranmore Castle
Devon

Cranmore Castle is an Iron Age earthwork situated on a hillside above the Devon town of Tiverton in south-west England. Its National Grid reference is SS958118. It is an English Heritage scheduled mon
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Acton Castle

Acton Castle (Cornish: Kastel Acton) is a small castellated mansion near Perranuthnoe, Cornwall. It is a Grade II* listed building. It was built c. 1775, and according to some sources around 1790, by
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Dunster Castle

Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified
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Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle (Cornish: Kastel Penndinas) is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to pro
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Lescudjack Hill Fort

Lescudjack Hill fort is the name given to the unexcavated Iron Age settlement located in Penzance, Cornwall. It is positioned on the summit of a steep hill in the east of Penzance and consists of a si
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Dunball

Dunball is a small hamlet west of the village of Puriton and close to the town of Bridgwater, Somerset, England. Just north of Dunball is Down End which is the site of Down End Castle a motte-and-bail
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Buildings and architecture of Bristol

Bristol, the largest city in South West England, has an eclectic combination of architectural styles, ranging from the medieval to 20th century brutalism and beyond. During the mid-19th century, Brist
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Dartmouth Castle
Devon

Dartmouth Castle is an artillery fort, built to protect Dartmouth harbour in Devon, England. The earliest parts of the castle date from the 1380s, when, in response to the threat of a French attack, t
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Tapeley Park
Devon

Tapeley is a historic estate in the parish of Westleigh in North Devon, England. The present mansion house known as Tapeley Park is a grade II* listed country house, built or enlarged from an existing
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Bude

Bude (, locally /buːd/ or /bɛwd/; Cornish Standard Written Form: Porthbud) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also k
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Crewkerne

Crewkerne ( KROO-kərn) is a town and electoral ward in south Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Yeovil and 7 miles (11 km) east of Chard. A separate civil parish of West Crewkerne include
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Cannington Camp

Cannington Camp is a Bronze Age and Iron Age hill fort near Cannington, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The small hill rises to 80 metres (260 ft) above low-lying land about 1.5
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Germoe

Germoe (Cornish: Germogh) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Germoe village, the parish's main settlement and church town, is about five miles (8.0 km) west of Helston
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River Fowey

The River Fowey ( FOY; Standard Written Form: Fowi) is a river in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Its source is at Fowey Well (originally Cornish: Fenten Fowi, meaning spring of the river Fowey) a
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Montacute

Montacute is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 831 (2011 census). The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from t
