half hide the
walls. Protected by the river and a steeply scarped bank on the south, a
natural ravine on the north, and a deep notch cut on the western side,
the mass of slate rock that it stands on was a point of vantage. On the
crest of the hill the keep stands on a mound, with which two sets of
buildings were connected by curtain walls. These buildings stretch down
the slope to the east, the space between the two blocks narrowing
towards the gateway.

Mr Worth observes that in Devonshire and Cornwall most of the smaller
Norman keeps were round, as at Totnes, Launceston, and Plympton; but the
stronger castles had square keeps. Okehampton, though not a large or
very strong fortress, was distinguished by its square keep, and
'occupies what may be called a middle position.'

Tradition has always held that Baldwin de Brionis, to whom the Conqueror
gave the manor, built the Castle, and Mr Worth, after a searching
examination, thinks that, as regards the lower part of the keep walls,
this may very well be the case; for they are not only Norman, but Norman
of the period in which Baldwin lived. The other buildings are later, but
vary in date, the most modern being the part of the block which contains
the chapel, and which was probably reconstructed from older buildings
towards the close of the thirteenth century.

There are gaps in the walls of the keep, but the ruins show that there
were four rooms, two above and two below; some of the windows and a
fireplace in one of the upper rooms are still to be seen. In the
northern block of buildings was the great hall--forty-five feet long and
twenty-five feet wide--lighted by two large windows to the south, and
entered by a boldly moulded granite doorway. A second doorway in one
corner led to a staircase-turret which led to the roof.

On the southern side the buildings are larger and less imperfect. Here
is the chapel, 'evidently,' says Mr Worth, 'a portion of a larger
structure, which has, perhaps, for the most part disappeared....'

East of the chapel are the guard-rooms, in a two-storied block of two
rooms on each floor. A doorway in the north-eastern corner leads into
the porter's lodge, a small room in the gate-tower with 'a loop window
in the eastern wall commanding the approach. Above this chamber there is
one precisely similar in the upper story (the floor, of course, is
gone), and it is noteworthy that this is the only part of the fabric
that retains its roof, which is