Stokesay Castle

My friends down the hall invited me to explore Stokesay Castle in Shropshire a week ago Sunday.

We left Worcester in the fog. The drive was about an hour away and for the most part the fog obscured our view. There were moments when the fog lifted, giving us hope of a brighter day, but by the time we arrived at Stokesay the fog had descended once more.

As we approached the gift shop/ticket office, I turned to take a photo of the church on the property, only to twist my ankle and fall in the grass--something I haven't done in a very long time.

The smudges on the photo are from my fingers as I tried to protect my camera.

This was another one of those "spare" historical sites which leaves much to your imagination. We were issued audiotour phones after purchasing our tickets. Note to friends who might be interested in touring the UK at this level--consider joining English Heritage and the National Trust. Big discounts await!

We entered the site through the mid 17th century (1640-1641) gate house.

The three levels of timber and plaster are each distinctive, one from the other. The ground level uses straight vertical timbers, the second level uses the timbers in a diamond pattern, and the third level uses a wagon wheel pattern. The carvings above the lintel and on the brackets were amazing.

The castle itself, however dates back to 1280s and 1290s. The home was a showcase for wool merchant Laurence of Ludlow who had become one of the wealthiest men in England. Beyond the gatehouse, the castle features a moat

and towers

which suggest fortification, but apparently that was mostly for appearance's sake. The castle could not have withstood a military siege, but it was enough to hold off robbers.

The Great Hall, used as a dining hall for the family and, visitors is impressive.

The construction of the three great wooden arches of the roof and remains an architectural marvel.

Note the window seats at the base of the windows. Beyond serving as the major dining and reception hall, the great hall also acted as sleeping quarters for the servants. Traces of a hearth remain in the floor.

A door on the north side of the hall probably led to a "buttery" featuring wine and ale in casks, or "butts"

[Middle English, from Old French boute, from Late Latin *buttia, variant of buttis.]

A wooden staircase leads up the two upper floors of the north tower.

The real prize of the castle is the "Solar".

The Solar block was a two-story structure which served as the living quarters for the master and his family.

It is a beautiful room lit by two large windows on either side of the room--one facing the moat, the other the courtyard.

The focal point of the room is the magnificent fireplace.

The carvings here are absolutely stunning.

The guidebook suggests that at one time they would have been painted with bright colors.

The small framed windows on either side of the fireplace looked out over the great hall.

The south tower, positioned next to the Solar served as a business center and means of protection for Laurence. The various levels of the tower look quite similar to each other, but the upper levels have one characteristic which gave me pause.

The sign lists at least eight different kinds of bats who "visit" the tower. It goes on to say that in 2007 there was a "maternity colony" of bats roosting the the ceiling of this room.

You can probably make out the admonition featured in one of the previous slides not to touch the bats due to the fact that they carry rabies (as most people are well aware). Visitors are warned that even a dead bat can be dangerous--while bites are the worst, that's not the only way to be at risk. I was a bit anxious about this little factoid. I know (as most people do) that bats are nocturnal, but I've seen them in the daylight and I have to say, finding one on the curtains of my living room (as happened a number of years ago) did nothing to endear the creatures to me. That said, they are valuable little creatures (anything that consumes mosquitoes deserves to live as far as I'm concerned) and I'm glad they exist. I'm just not keen to live in the same dwelling as the bats do.

The windows in the tower rooms were at an angle as a security measure.

The views from the turret were lovely, although the fog was still with us.

We visited the garden before surrendering our audiophones.

I was particularly enamored of the cobwebs, or fairy blankets as my friend called them.

We visited the gift shop before heading off to the church. I really liked the "tapestries" on sale.

The best item for sale was more seasonal.

We visited the church on our way out and found nice stained glass windows.

The guidebook says the church pre-dates the castle, but was largely re-built due to damage sustained during the Civil War. This Norman door is the oldest part of the church.