Plymouth Castle

At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, Plymouth, then known as Sutton, was too small a settlement to warrant fortification, but a motte and bailey castle was built at nearby Plympton.

The exact date of the construction of the castle itself is uncertain, but following a French raid on Plymouth in August 1403, King Henry IV ordered the prior of Plympton and the abbot of Tavistock to further fortify the town with walls and towers.

[3] In 1542, the antiquary John Leland visited Plymouth and recorded that: "On a rokky hill hard by it [the mouth of the harbour] is a strong castel quadrate having a eche corner a great rounde tower.

During the English Civil War, Plymouth declared for Parliament and was besieged in 1643 by Royalist forces; the castle was again made ready for defence but saw no action.

[1] A small section of the castle fabric survives in the Barbican area of Plymouth, located in Lambhay Street, at the head of a flight of stairs leading down to the Mayflower Steps on the quayside.

The surviving fragment of the castle
The coat of arms of the City of Plymouth show the four towers of Plymouth Castle with the saltire of Saint Andrew . The motto , Turris Fortissima est Nomen Jehova means "The strongest tower is the name of Jehovah".