Hapton Castle

Heritage listing

Details The monument includes the upstanding and buried remains of Hapton Castle. It is located on a small plateau immediately to the east of the rocky ravine of Castle Clough and includes a roughly oval flat platform surrounded on two sides by a substantial ditch. The platform measures approximately 40m north-south by 30m east-west and contains a 4m length of the castle's stone walling standing up to five courses high on its south side and another short piece of walling, now turf covered, on its east side. The platform is surrounded on the south and part of the east sides by a dry ditch up to 14m wide and 4m deep. This ditch has been infilled on the north and part of the east sides. On the west side, immediately above the ravine, the monument's defences consist of an earthen bank up to 2m wide by 1m high and an internal ditch c.1m wide. Hapton Castle is thought to have been in existence in 1328 when Gilbert de la Leigh purchased Hapton from John Talbot. It was the seat of the Lords of Hapton until the erection of Hapton Tower c.2.5km to the south east in 1510. The building was still inhabited in 1667 but was in ruins by 1725 and no longer existed in 1800. The castle is thought to have consisted of a stone tower keep and a stout wooden palisade or stone wall enclosing a yard. A post and wire fence on the monument's western side is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it is included. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation. Legacy The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system. Legacy System number: 27679 Legacy System: RSM

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.