LukeD Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I have put the link up again because I want people opinions. I have been round a few castles in my time and the stones are really large and the foundations are really massive. The stonework in the picture looks like dry stone walling. Does it look like castle foundations to anyone else? http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=458126 . It's ashlar with an infill of rubble which is common in castle construction. The stone blocks do look rather pathetically small though. If the photo shows part of the gateway then one might expect it to look more substantial. I went to Conisbrough Castle a few weeks ago, that's slightly more impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Those are the first pics I have seen of the castle. It would be interesting and maybe beneficial to the city if the council knocked down the market and surrounding buildings to make way for a park with the foundations showing through the grass with information boards and suchlike. It would make a nice tourist type attraction to what is a horrid part of the city centre. The Council have set up a working group with this intention. Funding has been given for some further investigation of the remains. ARCUS have recently produced an image of what the gateway would have been like, based on the existing remains http://arcus.group.shef.ac.uk/sheff_castle.php?p=cs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahame Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 It's ashlar with an infill of rubble which is common in castle construction. The stone blocks do look rather pathetically small though. If the photo shows part of the gateway then one might expect it to look more substantial. I went to Conisbrough Castle a few weeks ago, that's slightly more impressive! Cheers, I keep promising myself I will go to Conisbrough Castle and take a few photographs as its history interests me. Also Pontefract, Earl of Lancaster. Ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yog Sothoth Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 They should rebuild it. Whenever I see Stonehenge or Fountains Abbey I always think "Why not just fix it up as it was?" At least with them (unlike the castle) most of the stuff is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 The Council have set up a working group with this intention. Funding has been given for some further investigation of the remains. ARCUS have recently produced an image of what the gateway would have been like, based on the existing remains http://arcus.group.shef.ac.uk/sheff_castle.php?p=cs There is a sound basis for that 'reconstruction'. The massive base of the left hand gate tower and the remains of the drawbridge pier were found in the excavations of 1927 and photos can be seen in the excavation report. The bottom of the castle ditch/moat was found at 33 feet below ground level along Exchange street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 There is a sound basis for that 'reconstruction'. The massive base of the left hand gate tower and the remains of the drawbridge pier were found in the excavations of 1927 and photos can be seen in the excavation report. The bottom of the castle ditch/moat was found at 33 feet below ground level along Exchange street. Do you mean the Armstrong report Greybeard? It's online here if anyone hasn't seen it. http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=5885 You have to register to see the images or you can download them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeD Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 They should rebuild it. Whenever I see Stonehenge or Fountains Abbey I always think "Why not just fix it up as it was?" At least with them (unlike the castle) most of the stuff is still there. I've been wanting to visit Fountains for years, I used to work for the N******** T**** and could have got in free! Fixing up would defeat the point. Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and ordered their destruction. Fountains escaped serious destruction because it is so remote, and we are lucky to have what's left as it is. It is one of the wonders of Britain. Stonehenge on the other hand has just become a glorified traffic island. There was a plan to tunnel the road underneath it.... a great idea in one of the most archaeologically sensitive areas in Britain. Not. They were also talking about building a fibreglass replica as part of a new visitor centre. Stonehenge has suffered enough over the years, people carving their names into it, hippies claiming it is theirs etc etc. Our castle doesn't really compare does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigmason Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 the council should make the castle ruins into a tourist attraction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky_Gibbon Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 It's ashlar with an infill of rubble which is common in castle construction. The stone blocks do look rather pathetically small though. If the photo shows part of the gateway then one might expect it to look more substantial. I went to Conisbrough Castle a few weeks ago, that's slightly more impressive! I went on a tour of the remains kept in the Castle Market about 20 years ago. As I remember there were some large stone blocks there complete with the medieval equivalent of 'Steve woz ere 1174' carved into a few of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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