Visited  August 2011

Location	Dartmouth, Devon
Entrance Fee	Yes
Railway Station Nearby	No
Parking	Yes
Facilities	Shop, Toilets, Cafe
Map

Dartmouth Castle differs to most of the others on this website, as it was not built by a King or a  rich & influential family. It was commissioned in 1388 by the Mayor of Dartmouth, John Hawley, to protect the lucrative trade routes for ships sailing out of Dartmouth. The Dartmouth merchants of the day were an aggressive bunch, not adverse to a spot of plundering at sea, so the town lived in fear of foreign vessels seeking to retaliate. With the outbreak  of the Hundred Years War with France in 1374 this threat had intensified, so Dartmouth began to look to its defences. The first castle consisted of a simple tower and stone wall- this is now part of the modern day car park.