Description of Area

*The original castle was of motte and bailey construction. The castle includes a large mound, the motte, on which is situated the keep. The 11th century keep was square but was added to in the 14th century to create a rectangular building which survives as a ruined structure three storeys high. To the north-east of the motte is the main bailey of the castle, which contained buildings essential to the housing and feeding of the castle's occupants. The surviving buildings are mostly of 14th century date and many of the original buildings in the bailey would have been demolished to make way for them. The bailey buildings provided shelter for the inhabitants of the castle, store rooms and activity areas including domestic rooms, a great hall, stables, a chapel and kitchens. The defence was provided by curtain walls along the north and south sides of the bailey while a double gatehouse connected by a corridor provided a formidable entrance to the castle at the north-eastern end. The castle site also contains further ruins to the north-west of the motte, within a compound north of the stream which runs through the site.

​

Reported Possible Activity

Sighting of hell hounds, carriage and lady mentioned below. 

​

Brief Summary of History or Legend

Okehampton Castle is said to be home to the spirit of a woman who found a great deal of joy in poisoning any man who was silly enough to take her for his wife.

As punishment for her terrible deeds during her time among the living, the sinister widow is forced to make a nightly journey from Dartmoor to Okehampton Castle in order to pluck a single blade of grass before returning home. The story goes that only once the hillside is stripped bare will the woman’s penance be completed. While this is most certainly a horrible way to spend your afterlife, the murderous wife can take solace in the fact that she at least gets to ride in style. Those who have encountered the woman on one of her countless journeys report that she travels in a carriage composed of the bones of the men she murdered, driven by a headless chauffeur and guided by a demonic hound.