Category: History

An old castle made new

It feels like being on a castle roof rather than perched uncomfortably on top of a high, stone wall.

I’ve visited York many times in my life, and on several occasions I’ve visited Clifford’s Tower, the ruined remains of a roughly circular stone building on top of a conical grass mound near the centre of the city.

I visited the tower again recently, and was astonished at the work done to improve this venerable structure, work that has utterly changed the place without disturbing any of the old stonework. It will never be the same again – in a good way! Here are some before and after photos:

I took the first image in October 2012 and the second image is from my recent visit almost exactly ten years later. They’re taken from similar angles, and there are recognisable features close to the edges of the photos – a small opening on the extreme left and a doorway and damaged stonework on the extreme right, for example.

I think you’ll agree that the tower looks stark and pretty much ruined in the first photo – almost uncared for (though nothing could be further from the truth). But in the second photo it looks so different. There’s a wooden ceiling and internal structures. The new work is entirely supported from beneath and is not attached to, or supported by, the original stonework.

A new feel, almost a new life

The building is utterly transformed. The moment I stepped inside I felt it was a different place, no longer a ruin but a place for people once again. The wooden ceiling is castle-like and tells visitors they are indoors. Before the new structure was added, visitors definitely felt they were somehow outside. The sky was visible, if it rained you got wet.

The new walkways and stairs make it possible to view the structure from completely new angles, and visualise another floor at a lower level.

There was always access to the top of the walls, but it was cramped and people inevitably got in one another’s way. Now the roof deck makes it easy to walk straight across from one side to the other; it feels like being on a castle roof rather than perched uncomfortably on top of a high, stone wall. Groups can stand together to admire the view and discuss the surroundings.

I’d like to say a big ‘Thank you’ to English Heritage for doing this major work, also to the designers for creating an idea that leaves the old stonework unaffected, yet transforms the feel of the place.

What can we learn?

For me, there’s something here more general than improving an old structure. The work on Clifford’s Tower shows how anything might be improved in radical ways. What about a broken friendship? Or an area of woodland? Or a failing school? Or something much bigger – climate change, or racist attitudes in an entire nation?

Whatever the issue that needs to be tackled, it’s never wrong to consider approaching it in novel and imaginative ways. Clifford’s Tower should spur us on to be more creative and less willing to give up because of restraints and difficulties. Here’s a shining example of a novel solution to a problem that might, at first, have seemed intractable.

Useful links:

Cirencester Wharf

There would have been bargaining and haggling, tobacco smoked and ale downed

Modern residents of Cirencester may not know that the town once had a wharf where canal boats tied up to load and unload goods of all kinds, including coal, manufactured goods, and timber. There were small hand-operated cranes on the quayside to help with handling heavy items.

The canal was a branch from the main Thames & Severn Canal that ran through Siddington and is currently being restored by the Cotswold Canals Trust.

So where was the wharf?

The wharf lay at the bottom of what is now Querns Hill, less than half a mile south of where Cricklade Street meets the Market Place. It was an easy trip by horse and cart for any of the businesses in the town in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and would have been a bustling hub of activity. The area was large enough to turn arriving barges for the trip back to Siddington; imagine the sounds and smells as horses were harnessed and roped for departure or released to rest and graze after arrival. Money would have changed hands as goods were loaded or unloaded from carts and dreys. There would have been bargaining and haggling, tobacco smoked and ale downed, jokes and banter and laughter, bread, cheese and meat passed around. People would have greeted one another and said their goodbyes because barges were used to carry passengers as well as goods.

Does anything remain?

Surprisingly, yes! Parts of the towpath remain as footpaths and can still be walked, though the canal has been filled in and there’s no sign of it in the area near the wharf. There are dry stone walls that were once the boundary walls of the canal; you can see these when you know what to look for. And it’s not hard to trace the route of the canal on foot.

Begin near the bottom of Querns Hill, where it meets Querns Lane and Sheep Street, find the view in the location photo below.

Location of the wharf

You are now looking at the site of the old wharf. It stretched from close to the building on the left (beyond the parked cars and the wall) across to the right hand edge of the photo. The canal leading from the wharf headed directly through the building in the centre of the photo and on through the trees in the centre.

The trees follow the line of the old canal

The photo above shows the same trees but looks back towards the wharf; the buildings on the left are close to those in the first photo. The canal would have more or less followed the line of trees from the buildings on the left right up to the yellow vehicle, and the course of the towpath remains along the garden boundaries hidden by the parked cars. Turning 180° from this view there is a house built over the route of the canal, but walking around it and crossing the road, the footpath between the houses is again the old towpath. What’s more, a dry stone wall on the left hand side of this path is almost certainly the old boundary wall that ran along both sides of the canal. The wall is high here, about 2 m, but beyond the town and in farmland the wall was only 1 m or so. It’s easy to visualise the canal here, mentally remove the tree, imagine water where the grass is, and you have it!

The old towpath and boundary wall, the canal was where the grass is

I was quite surprised to find so much remaining and still identifiable. Local history can be very fascinating and sometimes the detective work is easier than expected. It would be nice to have some of these remains marked and explained on noticeboards.

If anyone reading this is interested in helping to research the Cirencester Branch of the canal, please leave a comment below and I’ll make contact.

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(Article updated 20th July 2020)