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.
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.
The Shropshire Horticultural Society bought the castle and gave it to the town in 1924. 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 castle is currently owned by Shropshire Council. The castle is currently undergoing some restoration, which is needed as the sandstone building material is soft and quickly erodes.
Since 1985, the castle has housed the Shropshire Regimental Museum, with artifacts from the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. The museum combines the collections of the 53rd, the 85th, the KSLI to 1968, the local Militia, Rifle Volunteers and Territorials, as well as those of other county regiments - the Shropshire Yeomanry and the Shropshire Artillery. 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.
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.
