ONE of the oldest and least documented Norman stone castles in Britain, Snodhill Castle which was neglected for over 400 years until its rescue from collapse in 2017, is to benefit from £201,000 lottery funding.

The Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust was awarded grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its mission to conserve, study and open for public benefit the site and remains of Snodhill Castle, located between Dorstone and Peterchurch and is believed to be Britain’s newest, oldest castle.

The trust stated that the funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will help strengthen the organisational resilience of the trust and greatly boost its community engagement activities and secure this increasingly significant castle for future generations.

Snodhill Castle, which dates back to around the 11th Century, is the ‘sleeping beauty’s castle’ of Herefordshire’s Golden Valley.

In 2015 it was a neglected ruin, close to collapse. In 2016, it was saved by the combined efforts of enthusiasts and the people of Snodhill who, with the backing of Historic England, came together to form the Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust.

Today, the ten-acre site, its ruins studded with ancient trees, is being conserved by experts, investigated by archaeologists and enjoyed by the public – as highlighted in BBC’s Digging for Britain, broadcast in January.

The awarding of the grant in ‘Fortifying the Future’ will help the trust to become a more connected, digitally-savvy and better-resourced organisation, able to attract and sustain a diverse audience of individuals, groups and the wider community who will engage with the castle and benefit from that association in their own unique ways.  

This ambitious three-year project includes collaborations with local organisations engaged in green wellbeing, community engagement and education.

The project will also see the running of ‘community digs’ in conjunction with Herefordshire Archaeology so that everyone can play a part in uncovering more of the castle’s history - and discover the thrill of archaeology too.

The trust will also be commissioning research to anchor the archaeological discoveries within a known historical context, publish its findings - and ensure Snodhill Castle takes its rightful place in Britain’s national story.

It is possible from the archaeological evidence already obtained that Snodhill had been a very rare pre-Norman castle built around 1050 to guard the fertile Dore Valley and its prosperous Saxon villages at Wilmastone, Dorstone, Peterchurch and Mynydd-brith.

However, the Norman castle itself was built around 1068 by William Fitz Osbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, who was campaigning to assert Norman control along the Welsh Marches, having already built all the early Norman castles from Chepstow to Wigmore.

The trust will also commission ecological and habitat surveys for projects to conserve and enhance the castle’s unique mediaeval landscape, habitat and species diversity.

And finally, the trust will be encouraging the castle’s use in new ways in academic, media, events and other creative contexts.

Garry Crook, chairman of the Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust said: “Having rescued the castle, the project will secure its long-term future through an ambitious programme of engagement, shared interest and participation.

“Because the only way to preserve heritage for tomorrow is to make it matter to people today.

“The grant award is a fantastic validation of our achievements so far and recognition of our serious ambitions for the future of Herefordshire’s - and Britain’s - newest, oldest castle. We’re delighted to share our excitement at the award and start on our mission”