ANCIENT DEVON CASTLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21326, 29 October 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

ANCIENT DEVON CASTLE

IN THE DOMESDAY BOOK BACK TO FAMOUS OWNERS Compton Castle, one of the show-places of South Devon, a ruin with a romantic history reaching hack to the days of the Domesday Book, is once again, after an interval of nearly two centuries, in the possession of the most famous of its owners, the family of Gilbert. This is the third occasion in the long story of Compton Castle that the Gilberts have lost their castle —and won it back again. Its new owner is Commander Walter Raleigh Gilbert, R.N., of Knightsbridge, who would h;#ve been the direct heir to the estate - had the Gilberts remained in undisputed possession. Associated with Commander Gilbert in the purchase is an American kinsman, Mr. F. M. Gilbert. Their intention is that Compton Castle shall continue to be one of the show-places of Devonshire, but Commander Gilbert cherishes the hope that he will eventually be able to restore the picturesque, ivy-clad ruins. A beginning, indeed, has already been made in this direction. a At the time of the Domesday survey Compton was held by Stephen, under Juhel de Totnais. -In the reign of Edward 11. the castle came into the possession of the Gilberts. It . passed into other hands in Edward Vl.'s time, but was later repurchased by the Gilberts, and held by them for a reasonable period. The existing structure is supposed to have been erected in the early part o! the 15th century. The buildings originally surrounded a quadrangle, and the north front, with its embattled tower and ancient gateway and the dilapidated, ivycovered walls, remain.