Stafford castle is a bit of a landmark when driving up the M6 motorway to Satfford from the south.
You will notice on your right hand side a hill with, yes you guessed it, a castle ruin at its peak. It is clearly vivisble by day and night as it is lit up extremely well. From the road the castle looks massive, but close up it somehow looses its impact. It does not feel as imposing. I dont quite know why, it feels smaller some how?

I have visited Satfford castle only a couple of times and have been pleasantly suprised to be honest.

Stafford castle was built in the Norman period, but later in the 19th century due to its condition it was demolished and rebuilt, but was only lived until the 1950's, so was left to the eliments since.

Once you enter into the car park through some very tiny gates you can park. Then out you get and climb up the hill towards the castle, which is hidden behind the tree covered path. The hill you go up does not really feel too high at all. Coming down shows you otherwise though. The hill you went up looked like a gradual incline, but form the other way it looks very steep indeed.

Once you are at the top you walk around a dirt path which also is a gradual incline, until you reach the top. Here you are confronted with the castle itself. It is a ruin, it does seem a bit run down, but with its lovely sandy colour brings the imagination into play, as to how this magnificent castle would have been back in the day.

Also on the site you will find a vistor centre too, inside there are items for you to look at , believe it or not all from the same period , including artifacts from the grounds. There is also a large scale model of what the castle looked like also. Very nice to know these things seeing as you are looking at a remains/ruin , and to see what is and isnt left is really quite intresting! There is also a photographic timeline, showing how the castle went from its glorius once lived in condition to the ruin you see today. This is quite anintresting idea and shows just how much damage can be caused in such a small amount of time!

So if your looking for a free, yes thats right free day out then Stafford castle is definately worth a look. Although there is not loads to do it is still worth your time. To see a bit of history before it falls even deeper into dis-repair!