Index

to

Compton Castle, in the parish of Marldon, near Torbay, and Paignton

by

Charles Spence

In Exeter Diocesan Architectural Soc. Trans 2 ser, v. 1, (1867) pp. 47-54.

Prepared by Michael Steer

Compton Castle is a fortified manor house in the village of Compton, about 5 miles west of Torquay, The castle has been home to the Gilbert family for most of the time since it was built. It has been a National Trust property since 1951. The original undefended manor house was built in the mid-14th century and consisted of a hall flanked by solar and service rooms at each end - these were rebuilt in the later Middle Ages. The fortress-like front was added in about 1520 by John Gilbert. The central hall was in ruins by the 18th century, but was faithfully reconstructed in the 1950s. Its most famous inhabitant was Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583), coloniser of Newfoundland. Legend has it that Raleigh smoked the first pipe of tobacco in Britain while visiting Sir Humphrey. This rare book was produced from a digital copy held by the University of Michigan Library that can be downloaded from Google Books. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. Those on which copyright has expired are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.