English: Lydford Castle Lydford Castle was probably built about 1195 to serve as a prison. It took the form of a freestanding tower of at least two storeys. Sometime in the thirteenth century a thorough rebuilding was undertaken. A ditch was dug around the tower and the soil piled up around the ground floor. This now gives the false impression that the castle was originally built on a hill. The upper storeys were completely rebuilt to form a small keep and the interior of the old prison was filled in. This infilling was subsequently removed, so that when you enter the castle, at the level of the top of the mound, you can descend to the original floor level of the prison. During the English Civil War the lowest floor of the building reverted to its former use when the Royalists used it as a dungeon for imprisoning Parliamentary supporters and soldiers, most of Devon and Cornwall having maintained their allegiences to King Charles I and the Royalist faction. During that period, the castle was one of the Law Courts of the notorious Judge Jefferies, the "Hanging Judge".