Marshwood Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the hollow of the Marshwood Vale, the hedged countryside of west Dorset, a rectangular enclosure bordered by a wide, half-filled ditch preserves the memory of the county's only baronial seat. The remains now lie among the buildings of a working farm, Lodge House Farm, between two tributaries of the River Char. The most telling feature is the base of a rectangular corner tower, set on a mound in the south-west corner: rubble-core walls 2 to 3 m thick, stripped of their facing, still stand there to about three metres, with an opening in the north wall. An earth rampart runs along the north side, and annexe enclosures cling to the south and east. A chapel dedicated to the Virgin, ruined in the 17th century, left traces uncovered in 1839. Long described as a Norman motte, the site is now interpreted as a 14th-century moated castle or fortified house, perhaps unfinished, which would have succeeded an older fortification of the Mandevilles. Protected as a historic monument and included on the Heritage at Risk Register, it is private and not open to visitors.