EAW007521 ENGLAND (1947). Hartlebury Castle, Hartlebury, 1947

HARTLEBURY CASTLE Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 7XX



Hartlebury Castle- Grade 1 listed building English Heritage Building ID: 400766.

Castle Lodge- Grade 2, English Heritage Building ID: 400770

County Museum Offices North East of Hartlebury Castle Grade 2-English Heritage Building ID: 400769

Gate Lodges and Walls to Forecourt - Grade 2 - English Heritage Building ID: 400767

Gardener's House and Garage to South East of Hartlebury Castle- Grade 2- English Heritage Building ID: 400768





Until 2012 owned by the Church Commissioners as a Bishops Palace for the Bishop of Worcester - used for that purpose for over a thousand years (since 854).





It is known that bishops have resided here since the 1200s. Battlements were added in 1288.



Most of the castle was destroyed following the surrender by the Royalist garrison during the English Civil War circa 1650 and the surviving medieval structure is hidden within the works of the 17th and 18th centuries.



Current building is C15 with late C17 and mid- to late C18 extensions and 1960s remodelling.



The last bishop lived in the south wing until 2007.

The North wing, formerly the servants quarters, has been occupied by the Worcester County Museum since 1966.



The middle range of the castle includes the Great Hall, the Saloon and the Hurd Library, a uniquely intact book collection of a previous incumbent. The library contains not only much of the castles historic papers, but volumes of rarity and historic significance.