Alton Castle

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Date:1960 - 1970 (c.)

Description:View from the south east of the Convent at Alton Castle. Within Alton Castle are the remains of the medieval castle, built in about 1175 by Bertram de Verdun, the founder of Croxden Abbey.

Alton Castle was rebuilt as a large Gothic-style house between 1847 and 1852 to designs by A.W.N. Pugin. It was perhaps built for the widow of the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, or for the 16th Earl.

The school on the site was taken over by the Sisters of Mercy in 1855 and the presbytery became their convent. The Castle remained a private residence until 1919 when the Sisters of Mercy brought it for £3,500 to extend their boarding school. The school closed in 1989 and the castle was left empty until the Archdiocese of Birmingham purchased the building in 1995, who opened it as a residential youth centre in September 1996.

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Creators: County Archaeology Department - Creator

Donor ref:C/P/65/7/1/2/33/1 (43/13090)

Source: Staffordshire Record Office

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