Stafford Castle - Stafford, Staffordshire.
N 52° 47.873 W 002° 08.821
30U E 557510 N 5850128
Stafford Castle is located on Newport Road and overlooks the town of Stafford in Staffordshire.
Waymark Code: WMVA1Y
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/21/2017
Views: 3
Stafford Castle is an 11th century earthwork motte and bailey fortress, founded by Robert de Toeni and has dominated the local skyline for over 900 years.
'Stafford Castle is an ancient Grade II listed building that lies two miles to the west of Stafford, just off the A518 Stafford-to-Newport Road.
It is a local landmark and can be seen from the M6 motorway and also from the West Coast mainline inter-city trains.
The stone building is an important early example of a 14th-century keep, later redesigned in a Gothic Revival style. The structure was built on the foundations of its medieval predecessor and incorporates much of the original stonework.' (
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Ralph Stafford founded the stone castle when King Edward III granted him a licence to crenellate in 1348.
Crowning the motte are the remains of a massive hall-keep that is rectangular in shape with octagonal corner towers.
After the Civil War, the remains were given an extensive 19th century Gothic reconstruction. The medieval stonework can still be seen in the south wall and the north-east tower.
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The castle was a rectangular tower house with four octagonal corner towers. A fifth tower was later added to the western wall. The motte was artificially raised and a deep ditch was added to strengthen the defences. The shape can be clearly seen on the image displayed on the Virtual Globetrotting website.