Builders move in at castle

Stafford Castle is undergoing a major £100,000 renovation project.

Work to create a new visitors entrance and to restore the west wing has just started at the popular tourist attraction.

It is anticipated that the new entrance will be completed in time to coincide with the first Stafford Festival Shakespeare performance of Much Ado About Nothing on June 28.

Workers will be on site for the next couple of months restoring the main wall to the west of the castle, which faces the M6 motorway.

The west wing is currently part wall and part railing but once restored will be a complete six metre high construction as it was originally.

Stafford Borough Council (SBC) is funding the refurbishment which is being carried out with the backing of English Heritage.

Specialist stone masons are carrying out the works using Hollington Stone from a quarry in Uttoxeter.

SBC spokesman Will Conaghan said the main contractors are Stafford firm Sandy & Co which has carried out a number of historical renovation projects in the town including the Ancient High House in the 1980s.

Mr Conaghan said the castle is one of the largest in the UK and sits on one of the last preserved Norman earth works in the country. He said: “The work at the castle is part of an ongoing repair project which has the backing of English Heritage to improve one of the premier tourist attractions in the county.”

(expressandstar.com - 4 May 2007)