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Shrewsbury Castle
	; Shrewsbury Castle
; Shown within Shropshire
Building
Architectural style	Red sandstone castle
Town	Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Country	England
Client	Roger de Montgomery
Coordinates	52°42′28″N 2°45′15″W / 52.7077°N 2.7541°W

Shrewsbury Castle is a red sandstone castle in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Its location is on a hill situated on the neck of the meander of the River Severn which the town originally grew up in. The castle is situated directly above Shrewsbury railway station.

[edit] History

It was built as a defensive fortification for the town, which was otherwise protected by the river. Town walls, of which little now remains, then radiated out from the castle and surrounded the town (although the area known now as Town Walls still has a small section of it and a tower known as Town Walls Tower and in the care of the National Trust).

In 1138, King Stephen successfully besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the period known as The Anarchy. The castle was also briefly held by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, prince of Wales, in 1215. Little of this original physical structure remains.^[1]

[edit] Modern

The Shropshire Horticultural Society bought the castle and gave it to the town in 1924. It is currently owned by Shropshire Council and houses the Shropshire Regimental Museum. Until 1981, borough council meetings, where the full council would be present, used the castle's hall. Meetings later moved to Oakley Manor in Belle Vue, and then to the Guildhall in Frankwell.

The museum was attacked by the IRA in 1992 and extensive damage to the collection and to some of the Castle resulted. It re-opened in 1995. The castle is currently undergoing some restoration, which is needed as the sandstone building material is soft and quickly erodes.

[edit] Construction

Laura's Tower overlooks the surrounding townscape and further out to the countryside. Marriages have taken place here and the castle grounds are used sometimes for plays, which have included the Canterbury Tales, among others.