Two castles have been built at Lydford, the first immediately in the wake of the Norman Conquest in 1066. The second castle was built on the site of the first castle in c. 1132 AD.
Used as a prison, an order of Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII describes the prison in 1512 as: one of the most hanious, contagious and detestable places in the realm, and Lydford Law was a by-word for injustice.