Bridgnorth Castle
The remains of Bridgnorth Castle are set on a cliff by the side of the River Severn. Today the castle is little more than a ruin comprising of a 70ft tall 12th century Norman tower and some other small stonework built in the time of Henry II. The tower leans at an alarming angle of 15 degrees, three times greater than that of the leaning tower of Pisa. This is due to an attempt to blow it up during the Civil War.
The castle was founded in 1101 by Robert de Belleme. Belleme was the son of a French earl, Roger de Montgomery, and was also a rich and powerful Norman baron who succeeded his father to become the Earl of Shrewsbury. He is reputed to have been a very nasty character who tortured men and women and is even reported to have gouged his godson’s eyes out with his bare fingernails. However, he let his people build their own houses in the outer bailey of the castle, the evidence of which can still be seen in Bridgnorth’s East and West Castle Streets.
Belleme supported the Duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose, in his attempts to depose Henry I and take the throne of England. In 1102 the king’s troops constructed a large earthwork on the south-west side of the Severn Valley, from which they could fire catapults into the castle. Following a three week siege the commander in charge of the castle surrendered to Henry’s forces, who then deported Robert de Belleme back to France.After this the castle became the property of the crown, and subsequently passed through many different hands, resulting in it deteriorating into a very poor state.
By the 14th century the castle had lost most of its strategic importance and with the onset of the Black Death in Britain the castle was largely forgotten. In the 15th and 16th centuries the castle was in a ruined state.
During the Civil War the Midlands was a Royalist stronghold and many Royalist troops were garrisoned at the castle. In 1646 Cromwell’s Roundheads arrived with orders to take Bridgnorth for the Parliamentarians. The Royalist troops retreated to the castle and set fire to houses in Bridgnorth High Street, in the hope it would hinder the progress of the Roundheads. The fire spread quickly to the surrounding buildings and eventually took St Leonard’s Church, which was being used as Cromwell’s gunpowder store. The engulfing explosion reduced most of Bridgnorth’s High Town to burnt cinders. On the 26th April 1646 the town was surrendered to Parliament.
Cromwell ordered that the castle be demolished and stone was taken from the castle to repair the town’s damaged buildings. By 1647 there were only remnants left of the structure which had once stood there and today the castle is much as the Parliamentarians left it.