In Cornwall, England, the UK, Restormel Castle is located close to Lostwithiel on the River Fowey. It is one of four principal Norman castles of Cornwall, along with Launceston, Tintagel, and Trematon. The castle is distinguished by its flawlessly round architecture. Situated in the parish of Bodardle manor of Lanlivery, Restormel was a part of the Norman magnate Robert, fief of Count of Mortain. Baldwin Fitz Turstin, the local sheriff, most likely constructed Restormel fortress as a motte and bailey fortress in 1100 following the Norman conquest of England. For almost two centuries, lineage of Baldwin kept the manor as tenants and vassals of the Earls of Cornwall. Despite being the opulent home of Earl of Cornwall until the 16th century, the castle was all but destroyed. During the English Civil War, it was briefly reoccupied and the site of fighting, but it was later abandoned. Now that English Heritage is in charge of it, it is accessible to everyone. Restormel Castle, which is perched on a high point with a view of the River Fowey, is a remarkably intact example of a circular shell keep, a unique kind of fortification constructed for a brief time in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. There are just 71 instances known to exist in Wales and England, with Restormel Castle being the best preserved. These castles were constructed by transforming a wooden motte-and-bailey fortification, with a stone wall erected in place of the palisade outside and a plethora of domestic stone structures erected inside the bailey. To serve as a defense, these were grouped together inside the wall. In a dramatic example of the 13th-century pattern, the buildings are bent to fit into the shell keep. The wall is up to 2.4 meters thick and has a diameter of 38 meters. With a wall walk 25 feet above the ground, it still stands tall, and the battlemented parapet is largely intact. Slate, which looks to have been quarried from the scarp face northeast of the castle, was used to build both the wall and the interior structures. The solar, guest quarters, kitchen, hall, and ante-chapel were among the household structures housed inside the wall. The castle structures were supplied with pressurized water from a naturally occurring spring. The entrance to the inner castle is guarded by a square gate tower, which is mostly destroyed. It is possible that this was the first portion of the old castle to be built entirely of stone. The chapel is located on the other side; it is believed to have been added in the thirteenth century and is housed inside a square tower that protrudes from the wall. It seems to have been altered during the English Civil War to become a gun emplacement. There was formerly an external bailey wall that was made of wood and had earthwork defenses. It has since been destroyed and is no longer visible. Additionally, there are historical allusions to a dungeon that has since disappeared. The castle gives the impression that it is perched atop a motte; its enormous walls were, remarkably for the time, buried deeply into the original motte. An outside ringwork that is later filled in to give the impression that it is heaped up against the castle wall enhances the effect. This might have happened in a later era of the existence of the castle to create a garden walk surrounding the ruin
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