Stokesay Castle is a fortifyed medieval house and is considered the best preserved example in England.
It forms a ‘comparatively complete ensemble’ of medieval buildings. The fact they remain largely unchanged is very unusual.
Previous owners have tried to repair what existed rather than rebuild and reconstruct.
It is Grade one listed and a scheduled Monument. It was largely build in the latter part of the 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow who was a wealthy wool merchant.
In the early part of the thirteenth century the land was owned by the de Say family who sold it to Laurence. The Stoke part of Stokesay is thought to have come from ‘stoches’ meaning cattle farm.
The Gatehouse is 17th century and is distinctively built in the Shropshire style.
The castle has been open to the public since 1908. It was left to English Heritage in 1992 by Jewell Magnus Allcroft.
There are events on through out the year, usually during school holidays, some of are Civil War Re-enactments.
It is open throughout the year but it is best to check opening hours and times. It is well worth visiting.
The image of Stokesay Castle above was taken by Penny Mayes and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
