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Whittington Castle Castle Street Whittington Shropshire SY11 4DF 01691 662 500 E - mail info@whitting t o ncastle.co.uk PROPOSED EXTERNAL TOILET BLOCK ‘WHITTINGTON CASTLE’, Castle Street, Whittington, Shropshire SY11 4DF DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEME NT 1. INTRODUCTION Whittington Castle is situated in the centre of Whittington, serving the village the wider area, providing visitor attractions. It gives people the opportunity to learn about the historical impact of the Castle, the many wildlife and fa una that can be found in its grounds and engage with other members of public. Since 2008, the Castle has been run by the Whittington Castle Preservation Trust, a committee of people interested in furthering the future of a Scheduled Ancient Monument for th e enjoyment of all. As there is no entrance fee, funds for the Castle are raised from car parking charges, tea room, visitor shop and book store sales as well as seasonal events held on the grounds. 2 . PROPOSAL S EXTERNAL WC FACILITIES The current indoo r toilet facilities located Castle building and are only accessible during opening hours . In order to maximise site and revenue potential, it is proposed that toilet facilities are offered outside of opening hours, allowing functions to be held within the grounds Therefore, it is proposed to purchase a demountable set of toilets with 3no. cubicles all offering disabled usage and clad externally with vertical boarding painted black with a matching slate pitched roof that replicates the nearby Bothy in appear ance Due to the surfaces used internally, management and sanitisation would be fairly trouble free. The finished overall size is 6500 x 4200mm approximately. The toilets could be used by all Castle visitors and by those attending events held within the gro unds offering the Castle building greater security if not required in association with an event. It maybe that th e Toilets could be offered for use by the general public pending discussions regarding management between the Trust and any interested stakehol ders. ACCESSABILITY Whittington Castle is in the centre of the village close to all amenities. There are good road connections with the Midlands, Wales and the North West with onsite parking offered for a daily fee. Regular public transport services r un at frequent intervals in the area. Currently, the building is easily accessible to all emergency services, if required, which these proposals do not compromise . LISTED BUILDING STATEMENT HISTORIC ENGL AND LISTING Below is the Histo ric England Listing however, this is dated 1987 and does not include works that were carried out in 2008. Heritage Category: Listed Building Grade: I List Entry Number: 1178307 Date first listed: 08 - Oct - 1959 Date of most recent amendment: 02 - Sep - 1987 Statuto ry Address: WHITTINGTON CASTLE, CASTLE STREET District: Shropshire (Unitary Authority) Parish: Whittington National Grid Reference: SJ 32615 31148 Details WHITTINGTON C.P. CASTLE STREET (west side) SJ 3231 - 3331 11/120 Whittington Castle (formerly listed as T he 8.10.59 Castle) GV I Castle, remains of. Begun c.1221 by Fulke Fitz Warine on site of late C11 or C12 motte and bailey castle. Regularly coursed and dressed grey limestone blocks with ashlar dressings; towers of outer gatehouse now with slate roofs. Ori ginal castle of motte and bailey type with bailey to north - west, replaced by rectangular plan with projecting semi - circular towers to inner and outer baileys, protected by elaborate water defences. Principal survival is outer gatehouse: 2 D - shaped towers f lanking broad pointed single - chamfered arch with roll moulding. 2 levels with plain corbel table and embattled parapet. Restored pointed windows with C19 cast - iron casements to upper level and cross - shaped arrow - loops to lower level; stepped plinth. Arch has double nail - studded plank doors with restored panelling to inner face; small armorial shield above looks C19. Projecting corbelled fireplaces to left and right in angle with curtain wall, which has cross - shaped arrow - loops plus 2 semi - circular bastio ns to right side. Gatehouse approached by short roughly coursed limestone rubble late medieval bridge with segmental pointed arch. Left return wall of left tower has 2 - light trefoil - headed window with square label on upper level. Inner wall has segmental - h eaded chamfered doorway in angle with gateway. Right curtain wall has late C17 cottage, now offices, behind. Timber framed with narrow red brick infill, rendered to front and left gable end; slate roof. One storey and attic; apparently of 2 framed bays. Fr aming: square panels, 3 from chamfered plinth to wall - plate, much altered to front; collar and tie beam truss exposed to left gable end. 2 late C20 casements to ground floor and 3 contemporary raking eaves dormers. Entrance to right through late C20 panell ed door under contemporary lean - to porch. Stepped external end stack to left has top rebuilt in late C19 yellow brick; similar red brick stack to back wall also with top rebuilt in C19 yellow brick. Extensive ruins of rectangular raised platform to south o f moat to south of outer gatehouse. Facing largely robbed but rubble core survives. Semi - circular bastion at north - west angle has narrow C13 four - centred arch on first level to east side, probably originally approached by external steps; remains of mutila ted window opening above and narrow arrow - loop to west. Remains of another small bastion behind, formerly forming part of gatehouse, and of larger bastions to north - east, south - east and south - west corners. Foundations of several buildings on platform uncov ered by excavation, including those of central rectangular tower (possibly the keep) with a forebuilding to east and a circular tower. Several fireplaces and a well. Extensive earthworks in fields to south and west and probably also formerly to east, but n ow truncated in latter direction by road, include an oval - shaped flat - topped mound to west, which may be the original motte. Water played an important part in the castle's defences and the surrounding moats are best preserved to the north, south and east o f the outer gatehouse. Much destruction occurred in the mid - to late C18, the eastern tower collapsing in 1760 with one of the northern towers and part of the west wall being demolished shortly afterwards to provide material for repairs to the Whittington - H alston road. Scheduled Ancient Monument (County No.17). Interior. Only partial inspection of outer gatehouse possible at time of resurvey (June 1986) and apparently much altered but likely to retain some features of interest. B.o.E. p. 317; V.C.H. Vol I (1 908), p.401; William Cathrall, The History of Oswestry (1855), p.281. James Forde - Johnston, Great Medieval Castles of Britain (1979), pp.68 - 9. The proposals described in the Design and Access Statement seek to enhance the visitor experience to the Castl e and provide a greater level of safeguarding than currently available. The Toilet Block, is intended to blend in with the other buildings set within the grounds by using similar materials such as painted vertical timber boarding and slate roofing. As a d etached building from the main body, it could be used autonomously, giving the main body of the building greater security and reduce needless ‘wear and tear’. Apart from forming a connection to an existing foul drain that runs close to the proposed Toilet s, any excavation will be limited to a maximum depth of 200mm below ground level. The Trustees of the Castle, being aware of their responsibilities , have liaised with Historic England and Shropshire Council Historic Environment Officer to ensure that all work is not detrimental to an Ancient Monument . p j: 31 March 2021 Registered Office: Whittington Castle, Castle St, Whittington, Shropshire, SY11 4DF Company Registration No: 3688770 Registered Charity No: 1075248 V.A.T. N umber 345028711 A Company Registered in England and Wales and Limited by Guarantee A member of the Association of Preservation Trusts www.whittingtoncastle.co.uk .

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