1393 death of Sir John Daumarle, Alice de Moels' son, his inheritance including the manor of Gidleigh and thus its castle was claimed by Joan (née Cokyn), a granddaughter of his sister and wife of John Dernford, alias Carnadon.

She, in turn, left a sole daughter and heiress upon her death in 1454, who took the inheritance to the Coode family of Morval.

Its position on a slope would have been hard to defend and the only features that indicate strength are the six-foot-thick buttressed walls and the slots in the doorways intended for draw bars.

[3] The same master mason may have been responsible for both buildings and both made use of the sandy dolomite rock from a series of small quarries south of Hatherleigh.

[3] Until around 1890 the ruins were quite stable, but by 1918 levelling of the ground for the garden of a new house had undercut the foundations, causing the collapse of the turret stairway and the entrance arch, and much other damage.