We had SO much fun! (Stafford Castle (Stafford))

Member Name: sewbizzie

Product:	Stafford Castle (Stafford)
Date:	21/09/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: FREE! Fun and educational

Disadvantages: None

Living in Stafford for the last year and a half you would really think that we would have visited here sooner but there has always been something going on. It was actually by chance that we went as we were going on a picnic to Cannock Chase instead but as it was still a bit wet I made the decision that we would visit here with the picnic instead.

~~BACKGROUND~~

Stafford Castle was originally built by Robert de Teoni in the Norman period and had mixed fortunes over the years. Later in 1347 Ralph the First earl of Stafford was granted permission to build a keep on the land and was later also granted permission to build the battlements around it. The castle went on to have mixed fortunes but by the early 17th Century the castle was in such a neglected and rundown stated that it's demolition was ordered.

Later in the 19th Century the Castle was to be re built by the Jerningham Family, they did use the original foundations and built it to the former 4 storey place that it once was. The castle was then lived in for many years but late in the 1950's the family moved out and the castle once more became derelict and started to crumble and has now remained untouched and is now only a sheer part of its former glory.

~~WHATS TO SEE?~~

Well the castle is certainly not what I would call a castle anymore, there is some inside left and you are allowed to walk all around it. There are a few walls which do make corridors but it is all so rundown which is such a shame as this was an amazing sight when it was full built.

The castle and grounds span over 26 acres and on this there is the Keep, inner bailey and outer bailey, this is all open to the public to walk around at any time but if you are after getting inside then you will need to visit during the visitor centre opening hours. Also on the land there are the woodlands which we found to be great fun.

All around the grounds there are information board which are at a knee level which means that they can be easily read by children. We did not notice these at first as we arrived before the visitors centre was open and took the easy walk up to the castle but nonce we found a few of the sign and noticed they were all numbered we had to go back to the bottom of the hill and walk around following them in the correct order. There is a lot of good info on the boards and it shows pictures of what the ground where we were standing would have looked like and how the view would have been. We did find they made the experience more fun for the boys as they were god smacked at times to find that they were standing where the knights would once have been standing! The information boards if followed in the right order do lead to the castle at the top and they take a lovely tour through the woods! We did find we encountered several imaginary dragons in the woods and at times had to hide from them!

Also in the grounds there is a herb garden but the boys did not find this of interest at all and really just wanted to get through it to the gift shop. I personally was a little let down in the herb garden as their were no different or unusual plants to be found. A few of them I did notice I had in my garden at home. I think it may have helped if there had been info boards by some of the flower beds telling us what was growing and what it would have been used for or to cure. I think I may have been able to get the boys interested if this was the case.

All of the above are at the same site but if you are willing to travel then there is also the High House but we did not visit this so I cannot make comment on it.

~~VISITORS CENTRE~~

On the Castle site there s a visitor centre which e found to be great. Of course the children enjoyed it for different reasons to me. Upon entering there is a small selection of items which can be bought which I will talk more about shortly, but if you go into the main room there are items laid out for you to look at. There were helmets, shield and chain mail which was available to use and try on at leisure and we had such fun dressing up using our imaginations. We did manage to get Daddy in the stocks which all 3 boys found hysterical!. There is also a lot of information around the wall and some really old artefacts which belonged to the castle. I did prefer reading these and learning more about the history of the place than the dressing up. There is also a very large scale model of what the castle looked like in its heyday and this really did impress the children and we were in fact trying to work out which house Grandma had lived in, I hadn't got the heart to tell grandma what they were saying about how old she must be!

There is also a small selection of photos which show the castle through the years and these did actually shock me at how fast the castle and building did in fact deteriorate. In the space of 10 years it went from a lived in home to ruins.

The selection of items which can be bought include the usual pencils and rubbers and key rings to hand made wooden weapons. We did buy 2 wooden swords and a bow and arrow and when I got to the till I was god smacked at the price. No they did not break the bank they were so cheap. In fact you would not have been able to buy the plastic alternative for less. The swords were £3 each and the bow and arrow was only £4.25 and considering they were all hand made I thought that this was a bargain. we also found a machine which cost 51p to use. You pay 50p and then put a penny into it and you can see it flatten and smooth out the penny and then emboss it with the castle logo. I thought that this was a wonderful keepsake for such a small price.

We did also find a notice which was advertising children's parties so yea we do have one book for the 19th September for Jacob who will be five. I was expecting it to cost a fortune but it was only £26.50 for one hour so we had the recommended 1 ½ hours. Details of the parties and the activities and tour which is included can be found on the castle website, the address for which I will put at the bottom of this review.

~~WHERE IS THE CASTLE~~

Well Stafford castle can be found, yes you guessed it, in Stafford, Staffordshire. The address is:-

Newport road
Stafford
ST16 1DJ

For those of you coming down from the North then Junction 14 of the M6 will be the best way and for those coming from the South Junction 13 is the easiest. When exiting the motorway the easiest way to find the place is to follow the signs for the town centre and within a few miles you will soon pick up the signs for it.

~~PRICE AND OPENING TIMES~~

The castle is open in the summer months between the hours of 11am till 4pm on a Tuesday through till Sunday. In the winter months it is open only on a Saturday and Sunday between 11am and 4pm. The ground are accessible by the public outside these times but you will not get access into the castle structure or the visitors centre.

There is a car park which is right by the main entrance and the visitors centre.

Now comes the best bit, the cost of entrance to the castle ground and visitors centre. FREE!!!!!! Everything is free at this site and we were shocked by this. There is of course a donations box in the visitors centre and we did put a few pounds in this as we all had such a wonderful time here.

~~OTHER~~

There castle does at times hold events which include Easter egg Hunts, St Georges Day celebrations, Poisons and Potions, Go Wild on an nature trail and Medieval Days. Some of these events do require booking and some charge for car parking but I think this is only fair so they can recoup some money for the cost of holding these events. Details of all the events can be found on their website which is staffordcastle@staffordbc.gov.uk

Overall I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It is a fun packed day out with so much to do and so mush for the imagination to discover and the best bit is it is FREE!

For members who are also on Ciao I have posted a few photographs over there for you to have a look, or laugh!, at.

Summary: A free historic visit which gets the imaginaton going