Tiverton was a Saxon town, but by 1106 it was an important strategic town for Norman kings.
In Saxon times Tiverton formed part of the inheritance of Aethelweard, youngest son of King Alfred. Countess Gytha of Wessex controlled the town in 1066 and the Domesday Book indicates that Norman, William the Conqueror, was its tenant-in-chief in 1086. It was the strategic site chosen by Henry I for a Norman castle, Tiverton Castle, first built in 1106 as a motte-and-bailey type and extensively remodelled in the 13th and 14th centuries. The church site dates from 1073.