Bridgnorth Town Council begins new project to protect its historic castle
Bridgnorth Town Council has held the first meeting to kickstart a new project aimed at protecting its historic castle ruins.
Bridgnorth Castle is a ruined Norman fortress located in the town. It was founded in 1101 and played a significant role in the English Civil War.
It was a Royalist stronghold and was besieged by Parliamentary forces who surrounded the castle for three weeks.
The castle was largely demolished in 1646 on the orders of Oliver Cromwell, leaving the main surviving feature as the 12th-century tower keep, which leans at an angle of 15 degrees and is a prominent landmark in the town.
The ruins of the castle became a scheduled monument - a registered nationally important historic building - in 1928.
The castle was donated to the town council in the 1950s, and has even featured in an episode of Channel 4's Time Team in 2001 after its ruined gateway (barbican) was uncovered by highways contractors for Shropshire Council.
Now a meeting has been held with Bridgnorth town councillors, structural engineers and Historic England, in a project aimed at protecting the ancient monument.
A spokesperson for Bridgnorth Town Council said this week: “Steps are now underway on a new project, aimed at protecting the long-term future of our historic Castle Ruins.
“An initial meeting went ahead last week with representatives of Historic England, Bridgnorth Town Council together with two of our town councillors, and one of our structural engineers.
“The purpose of the meeting was to identify both our maintenance and legal obligations, and from it a management plan for annual maintenance will be put together.”
