Qualla: Tiverton Castle https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Tiverton Castle https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle Tiverton Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle/ Photo credit Jack1956, CC BY-SA 4.0. At seven o'clock on the morning of Sunday, 19 October 1645, the New Model Army's gunners began firing at Tiverton Castle from a low ridge above the town. They were still finding their range when one cannonier, almost by accident, sent a single ball through the chain holding up the castle's drawbridge. The bridge dropped. Parliamentarian soldiers, in the words of their chronicler, were "loth to lose such an opportunitie" and rushed across without waiting for orders. By breakfast the Royalist garrison - 200 soldiers, a knighted governor, and a small fortune in treasure - was taken. The siege had ended almost before it began, and one of Devon's great medieval castles was on its way to becoming a ruin.

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Image: Jack1956 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/gcj9-tiverton-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Tiverton Castle: The Manor That Built a Dynasty https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle/ Photo credit en:User:Lew747, CC BY-SA 3.0. The story starts in 1106, when King Henry I granted the manor of Tiverton - one of the largest and richest in Devon - to Richard de Redvers, a Norman magnate who had backed the king in his quarrel with his brother. Richard built a motte above the steep red banks of the River Exe,...

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Image: en:User:Lew747 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/gcj9-tiverton-castle-the-manor-that-built-a-dynasty.mp3 0:06 2 full Tiverton Castle: Courtenays and Towers https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle/ Photo credit Roger A Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0. Isabella's heir was a second cousin once removed named Hugh de Courtenay, who became 1st Earl of Devon under a new creation in 1335. The Courtenays raised the castle that visitors see today: the great south-east tower with its arrow loops, the gatehouse, the Solar Tower whose rui...

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Image: Roger A Smith | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/gcj9-tiverton-castle-courtenays-and-towers.mp3 0:06 3 full Tiverton Castle: The Royalist Stronghold https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle/ Photo credit Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0. By the time Civil War broke out in 1642 the castle had passed through several more hands. Devon was largely Royalist country; Tiverton became a garrison for King Charles. Sir Thomas Fairfax, commanding the New Model Army, swept westward through Devon in the autumn of 1645, taking...

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Image: Lewis Clarke | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/gcj9-tiverton-castle-the-royalist-stronghold.mp3 0:06 4 full Tiverton Castle: A Castle Becomes a House https://qualla.com/tiverton-castle/ Photo credit Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0. What Fairfax could not entirely undo by storm, Parliament finished by demolition. Like dozens of Royalist strongholds across England, Tiverton Castle was slighted - deliberately broken down so it could never again serve as a military base. The great curtain walls came tumbling in...

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Image: Lewis Clarke | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/9/tiverton-castle-wp/gcj9-tiverton-castle-a-castle-becomes-a-house.mp3 0:06 5 full