Stokesay Castle in Shropshire has opened a new 44-seater tea room, in order to offer groups more to enjoy during a visit.
English Heritage, which looks after the castle, has converted a former potter’s cottage into a tea room, offering visitors a range of locally sourced, fresh and seasonal food with an emphasis on traditional Shropshire fare.
Coach drivers and tour leaders can enjoy a free lunch, and group members (11 or more people) will receive 10% off of food. Local specialities on the menu include Shropshire Fidget Pie, Shrewsbury Biscuits and Shropshire Blue.
The new Stokesay Castle Tea Room has a wood burning stove to make it cosy in winter and plenty of outdoor seating for summer, with panoramic views to Long Mynd and the Shropshire Hills.
What’s at Stokesay Castle?
This attraction is a preserved fortified Medieval manor house, built at the end of the 13th century by wool merchant Laurence of Ludlow. It’s set alongside a timber-framed gatehouse and parish church.
Groups paying a visit can explore the great hall, unchanged for over 700 years; spot characters carved in the timbers of the 17th-century gatehouse; and climb to the top of the north tower to see the original Medieval tiled floor and remains of a wall painting, plus panoramic views of the Shropshire Hills.
A free audio tour is available for groups to pick up on arrival, to use during a self-guided tour.
More in Shropshire
English Heritage recommends groups pair a visit to Stokesay Castle with the nearby Witley Court & Gardens, where the newly restored Andromeda and Perseus fountain can be enjoyed, and further history discovered.
Witley is an Italianate mansion, built in the 17th century, which, after a devastating fire in 1937, became one of the country’s most ‘spectacular ruins’.
For further information visit www.englishheritage.org.uk.
(Photo credit: English Heritage).
