Penrice Castle (Ruins)

A stone-built castle consisting of a drum-tower keep with a large ward to its east side. A group of ruined buildings at the north of the ward include a gatehouse with flanking defensive turrets. Attached to the east side, externally, is a conical dovecote [separately listed]. Much of the ruin is heavily overgrown and inaccessible. The wall of the ward survives generally to a height of about 3 to 5 metres. Irregularities at intervals appear to be small open-backed defensive turrets. The circular keep at the west side is about 12m diameter, surviving to a height of about three storeys; most openings appear to be walled up except a slit opening facing west and a pointed arch facing north to the exterior. It has two small semicircular additions, one to east and one to west, and a three-storeyed rectangular building attached to it on the exterior. The latter building survives on two sides only; it had a gabled roof running NE/SW; large fireplace in its SW wall with segmental arch on corbels; remnants of flat arches in openings above. Close to the keep is a small intramural building of which two walls remain, with a walled up segmental opening to the exterior. The entrance building at the north has a portcullis slot behind a gothic arch. Guard towers left and right with loops facing the entrance. The one to the north has been adapted as a dovecote, the other is inaccessible. The rear corners of this building facing the ward are rounded. Gothic arch of two orders to rear opening to the ward; above this a first floor lancet window with seats in the reveals. Along the north side is an enclosure with traces of intramural buildings. Two walls at the north east side are a fragment of a building to which the lost wall dividing the ward into two halves was attached.