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Visiting Shrewsbury Castle

Shrewsbury Castle stands in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in England. This 1067 Norman stronghold stood on a raised hill in the loop of the River Severn, where later Henry II rebuilt the wooden fort in stone. The castle was restored over the centuries, and today, visitors may stop by the castle or enjoy the grounds. 

Parking

Shrewsbury Castle doesn’t offer parking at the castle site, although a Park and Ride service drops off and collects visitors only a few metres from the castle entrance.

Visitors who travel by car will find parking within a ten-minute walk from the castle at:

  • Frankwell (with coach facilities) 
  • Raven Meadows multi-storey parking lot 
  • NCP Wyle Cop.

Visitors seeking Blue badge parking will find parking in the town or near the castle site by prior arrangement. 

 

Price

Visitors may access the castle grounds for no charge at any reasonable daylight hour; however, access to the interior costs a nominal fee, as shown in the table below: 

Day Tickets

Price

Adult (18+)

£4.50

Concession

£3.50

Child

£2.00

Children Under 5 and former members of the Shropshire Regiments

Free

 

Opening

Sat Jul 25 – Sun 13 Sep

Opening Hours

Mon, Tue, Wed

10:30am – 5:00pm

Thu

Closed

Fri – Sa

10:30am – 5:00pm

Sun

10:30am – 4:00pm

 

Mon 14 Sep – Sat 19 Dec

Opening Hours

Mon, Tue, Wed

10:30am – 4:00pm

Thu

Closed

Fri, Sat

10:30am – 4:00pm

Sun

Closed
Weddings & Events

Location and Access

Shrewsbury Castle is 100 metres (328.08 ft) from Shrewsbury Station and 600 metres (1968.5 ft) from the nearest bus drop-off (about a six-minute walk). Alternatively, the town's Park and Ride services drop off visitors and collect them a few metres from the castle entrance.

The castle’s physical address is:

Shrewsbury Castle

Castle Street

Shrewsbury

SY1 2AT.

 

Visitors may access the main hall, parts of the ground floor, the toileting facilities, and shop via a system of ramps. Those in manual pushchairs should ensure they have someone to push them up the inclined ramp path up to the main hall. 

Some of the exhibits are not wheelchair accessible due to the historic nature of the castle, but the Corporation of Shrewsbury has made every effort to accommodate the mobility impaired. There is also a path around the castle, which is wheelchair friendly, although visitors may require assistance on the steeper sloped areas. 

Visitors may climb the interior stairs to the top of the castle for incredible views or enjoy the castle grounds for a picnic lunch. The castle houses the Shropshire Regimental Museum, which offers regimental exhibits such as medals and weapons from the 1700s to the present day. 

Know Before You Go

  • Although the Corporation of Shrewsbury allows assistance dogs on the grounds, they do not permit pet dogs on the castle grounds.
  • Shrewsbury Castle offers accessible toilets and baby changing facilities.
  • Visitors may purchase food and drink in the town nearby or use the on-site gift shop to buy memorabilia and souvenirs.
  • Visitors are welcome to use the castle ground for a fee and to picnic in the grassy areas. 

Shrewsbury Castle Corporate and Wedding Hire

Shrewsbury Castle offers their historic setting for hire for special occasions or corporate functions. The 18th Century Circular Room provides a stunning backdrop for events such as weddings. A famous Scottish engineer, Thomas Telford, designed this iconic room with panelled plaster walls with pilasters, swags, and dado cornices.

On the castle grounds, the castle itself provides a dramatic backdrop for outdoor concerts and productions, as well as photo opportunities for weddings and memorable moments. The site can accommodate up to 36 guests inside and up to 400 guests on the castle grounds.

Places To Stay Nearby

Darwin's Kitchen

Darwin's Kitchen offers boutique hotel rooms in a historic building close to Shrewsbury Castle. As well as showcasing the traditional architecture, modern eclectic touches make the hotel a unique venue. The spacious rooms boast mood lighting, and some still offer their original wood fireplaces for a romantic ambience.

The hotel also offers modern frills such as flat-screen TVs with free WiFi and en suite showers. The five-star rated restaurant provides guests with fresh local fare and a cosy bar to enjoy. Rooms start at £150.00 for a standard double room. 

Book

The Lion Hotel Shrewsbury

The Lion Hotel is a grade I listed 16th Century coaching inn with 59 beautifully furnished rooms. The hotel provides an excellent restaurant and a super dog-friendly atmosphere with your furry best friends allowed even in the dining area. Each room has free WiFi and Freeview TV, and an ensuite bathroom.

The Lion Hotel offers excellent wedding facilities for up to 200 guests. You may spend your special day in a choice of two stunning Elizabethan banqueting rooms with domed ceilings and ornate fireplaces. Rooms start at around £95 to £115 for a standard double room.

Book

Premier Inn Shrewsbury Centre

Located in the town centre, Premier Inn Shrewsbury Central is close to many attractions of the bustling town, including Shrewsbury Castle. There’s a Falconry Centre nearby as well as the beautiful Shropshire countryside for nature enthusiasts. The inn offers competitive rates and a central location to explore the history of the neighbouring towns. 

Premier Inn offers neat rooms with WiFi and TV and en suite facilities. They also provide their Thyme restaurant and bar if you’re too tired to venture out after exploring the sites. Rooms start at around £32.50 to £55 depending on your choice of package.

Book

History of Shrewsbury Castle 

The site of Shrewsbury Castle dates back to the Romans. By 1067, the motte-and-bailey fort was constructed. The castle symbolised authority and power over the local people when Norman King William I dominated the area. He chose the site to take advantage of its natural defences of the River Severn and the surrounding marshes. The castle played an essential role in the Welsh border wars and the English Civil War.

Time Line

-5th to 6th Century AD

Romans first occupied the site of the Shrewsbury Castle from the Roman town of Wroxeter, who sought to take advantage of the natural defences of the position. The loop of the River Severn and the surrounding marshes offered strategic protection, and a town developed around the site. 

-9th Century AD

Shrewsbury was founded as a fortified town likely by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great. It first took the form of a wooden fort with earth ramparts and wooden palisades as protection. 

-1067 (First Build)

William I was behind the build of the first Shrewsbury motte and bailey fort shortly after the Norman conquest of England. 

-1069-(Besieged)

Eric the Wild besieged the castle and burned the town as he allied with the Welsh against the Norman conquerors. The castle held out against the siege, and Eric later fell in battle the same year.

-1070

Roger de Montgomery extended the fortification to consolidate his power base into Wales and to protect the town. He created town walls to respond to the Wesh threat, and the town walls with a small section and tower still in evidence (Town Walls Tower.) 

However, Montgomery built the castle in the northeast of the already established town, and historical records tell of 51 demolished houses to make space for Montgomery's new stronghold.

-1094-(Royal Siege)

When Roger died, his estates and the castle passed to his son Hugh, who died and left the castle to his brother Robert of Bellême. Robert opposed King Henry I and supported his rival Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy.

After a failed campaign, The King sent his forces to besiege the castle, and the exiled Robert of Bellême forfeited his lands to the Crown.

-1135-(Anarchy)

Henry I died without a successor, and the castle fell to the next in succession to the Crown Stephen of Blois. However, a faction was agitating for the succession of Stephen's rival to the throne, Empress Matilda. 

Henry, I died in 1135 without leaving a male heir, and the country slipped into civil war over the succession. The Crown initially held the castle for Stephen of Blois, who had assumed the role of King following the death of Henry. 

-1138 (Bloody Siege)

William FitzAlan seized the castle on behalf of Empress Maud and hanged 100 defenders from the castle battlements as a body show of gruesome force. 

-1154–1189 (Rebuilt)

In his campaign to protect his kingdom, King Henry II set about strengthening his castle defences, including Shrewsbury Castle. He commissioned builders to replace the inner bailey wall with stone and to build a great hall. 

-1215 (Welsh Attack)

Llywelyn ap Lorwerth attacked Shrewsbury this year and prompted the town to rebuild its town defences against the Welsh. Henry III granted the right to gather taxes to build a more substantial stone wall around the town.

-1234

Before the walls and gates were complete, Llywelyn attacked and burned the town once more. The town continued to raise taxes for the walls, which they completed in 1252.

-1222–1260

Royal records show a considerable sum paid to rebuild Shrewsbury castle. The great hall became a two-storey structure, and builders placed two polygonal towers at either end. 

-1271

The castle succumbed to subsidence due to moisture seepage from the river, and part of the motte collapsed and the timber tower. Builders repaired the rear of the castle with stone buttressing and added a small watchtower. 

-1277-1283

After the Welsh defeat during the Welsh war of independence, the castle no longer served a critical military function for some time. Then the 1400s saw the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr against Henry IV, and the castle once became important.

Henry, the Future Prince of Wales, took custody of the castle and denied Henry Percy to regroup with his ally Glyndŵr in Wales. Percy's retreat saw him defeated by the English in the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403

-1540 (Ruin)

Historical records refer to the castle as in a state of ruin, and a 1565 map shows the castle hall sans a roof and the inner bailey in ruins.

-1565

Elizebeth I leased the castle out as a private residence to Richard Onslow, a wealthy merchant. The castle, as well as the castle walls, fell into decline.

-1642 (Revived)

During the first Civil war in 1642, Shrewsbury Castle underwent intensive refortification and substantial rebuilding in stone. The Royalist stronghold builders replaced the gatehouse barbican with an artillery blockhouse and modified the curtain wall for firearms.

They also extensively cleared the castle site of surrounding dwellings to ensure a clear line of fire.

-1645-Parliamentary Capture

Parliamentary forces under Colonel William Reinking entered the town through possible treachery and pierced the town walls via St, Mary's WaterGate. After a brief battle in the town's square where eight men lay slain, the castle surrendered rather ingloriously without a shot fired.

Paliamterian forces partly rebuilt the castle and kept a 100 man garrison stationed there for the rest of the Civil War. 

-1655, 1659

Brief royalist uprisings failed to regain the castle, and in 1660, Parliamentarians slighted the castles, filled the defensive ditches, and removed much of the castle's outer fortifications.

-1663

The Town Council surrendered the castle to the new King Charles II, and he gave the castle to his ally Sir Francis Newport. He used the castle as a private residence that passed from heir to heir through to the 18th century,

-The 1780s-1790s (Restored)

Sir William Putney commissioned the famous Scottish engineer Thomas Telford to rebuild the castle, partitioning the rooms to make a noble residence. He also added gothic trappings to the windows and restored the main entrance.

-19th Century

The castle was under private lease and the home of the Downward family until the line ended after WWI. The castle then lay abandoned.

-1924

Shropshire Horticultural Society purchased the castle and gifted it to the Borough, cleared it of its partitions, and made a home of the Borough Council Chamber in the 1970s

-1985

The castle became home to a collection of Shropshire Regimental Museum.

-1992

The Provisional IRA firebombed the castle and museum, causing damage to the main hall but not the museum inside.

-1995

HRH Princess Alexandra reopened the museum in 1995. 

-2019 

The Castle Museum was rebranded as the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum.

-2019, 2020

Subsequent archaeological digs on the castle site uncovered the original 1067 ditch, medieval pottery, and cross-bolt heads. In 2020 they found evidence of what they believe is evidence of high-status feasting, including the bones of a pike and what may be a swan. 

-Today 

The Shropshire Council owns the castle, which is a Grade I listed national monument.

Shrewsbury Castle Occupants

  • 1070: Roger de Montgomery built his stronghold in the northeast of the burgh and occupied the fort as his administrative stronghold. 
  • 1090: The castle passed from Roger to his son Hugh, who died, leaving it to his brother Robert of Bellême, who forfeited the castle and fled into exile.
  • 1094: Robert of Bellême inherited the castle and resided there until his exile.
  • 1565: Richard Onslow leased the castle from Queen Elizabeth I.
  • 1645: A parliamentary Garrison stationed themselves in the castle till the end of the civil war.
  • 1663-1800s: Sir Francis Newport and his descendants occupied the castle.
  • The 1780s-1790s: Sir William Putney occupied and extensively remodelled the castle.
  • The 1900s-1945: The Downward family owned and occupied the castle.

Images of Shrewsbury Castle

Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle
Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle

Images Supplied and licensed from Shutterstock Standard Licence Package

Shrewsbury Castle Facts

  • Shrewsbury castle today consists of a great hall with two towers and an entry arch from the 12th century. The remaining bailey walls date back to 1223. 
  • One of the castle's first occupants, Robert Montgomery, was cousin to Willam I, otherwise known as William the Conqueror.
  • Not much remains of the first Norman stronghold beyond the stone supports for the castle mound.
  • When Edward I fortified the castle, he made the inner walls over 5 feet thick (1.52 m).
  • In 1642 in the Civil War, builders raised the walls of Edward I's great hall by 10 feet (3.04 m) and added an upper floor. 
  • Visitors may freely access the castle grounds during reasonable daylight hours, but there is a charge to visit the museum.

Shrewsbury Castle Q&A

What Kind of Castle Is Shrewsbury Castle?

Shrewsbury Castle is a fine example of a Norman motte and bailey primarily built in the 12th and 13th centuries and initially covered approximately double the area we see today. The surviving remnants include the Norman motte and ramparts together with extensively restored buildings and walls. 

Did Any Battles Happen at Shrewsbury Castle?

Shrewsbury was the scene of several sieges throughout its extensive history; Eric the Wild besieged the original castle as far back as 1069. The most violent attack was by William FitzAlan in 1138 on behalf of Empress Maud, where 100 men of the castle garrison were killed and hung from the castle ramparts as a gruesome display of power. 

Location of Shrewsbury Castle

Shrewsbury Castle stands on a raised area in the one of the meanders of the Severn River in Shropshire, England. The original castle site built in the 11th century became incorporated into the subsequent builds over the 13th and 17th centuries. Parts of the original medieval structure remain largely in the inner bailey. 

Shops and buildings have covered what was the outer bailey which once extended into the town. However the castle location did not alter much from its original form, beyond several extensions and rebuilds within the location. 

Other Places To Visit Near Shrewsbury Castle

St Mary's Church Shrewsbury 

St Mary’s Church still dominates the landscape with its church spire, the 3rd highest of any parish church in England. The church dates back to the 12th century and boasts a stunning collection of medieval stained glass dating from the 14th century to the 19th century.

The 15th-century nave roof is adorned with carved figures of angels, birds, and animals, and the tomb of Simon de Leybourne with a stone effigy from 1315. 

Shrewsbury Abbey

The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul has close ties to the Shrewsbury castle as Roger Montgomery, the original owner, founded the Abbey in 1083.

Once one of the most powerful Abbeys in England, only part of the Shrewsbury Abbey, which houses the church survived Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. The site is still open for worship today. 

Wroxeter Roman City

The Wroxeter Roman City remains to offer a rare glimpse into urban living over 2000 years ago. The town was once the fourth largest in Roman Britain. This legionary fortress once stood in the 1st century AD and became a town that flourished until the 7th century. The most impressive remains on view are the municipal baths alongside a large exercise hall. 

Sources