Shrewsbury Castle to reopen at weekend
Shrewsbury Castle will be reopening its doors to visitors on Saturday.
The opening will enable visitors to explore the castle grounds which have been maintained by Shrewsbury Town Council during the time it has been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Visitors will be able to have picnics as long as they adhere to social distancing rules at all times.
Laura’s Tower will remain closed as there is only one path which doesn’t enable social distancing.
The castle grounds will be open during museum opening hours only.
Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council cabinet member for culture, leisure, waste and communications, said: “Shrewsbury Castle is one of the town’s most iconic buildings and we’re really looking forward to opening the doors to visitors again.
“The safety of our staff and visitors is our top priority. A lot of hard work has been put in to make the castle and its grounds as safe as possible so visitors can relax when with us.”
Along with the gardens, the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum which is housed inside the castle itself will also be open from Saturday.
A one-way system will be in place through the museum.
Richard Gough, director of the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum, said: “All our teams have worked really hard to get the museum open again – after four months we’re really excited to welcome our visitors back in.
"There are just a few areas off limits for the time being but we are really keen to make sure everyone is safe, but also has a great experience when they visit.
"Our shop is also stocked full of superb gifts and second-hand books, and our staff will be only too pleased to help ensure safe browsing.
“We have split the museum into zones which flow nicely through the regiments’ historical timeline; we have lots of hand sanitiser, and we’ve increased the cleaning frequency, especially in the toilets.
“Initially we will be allowing 48 customers in the museum at any one time to enable social distancing, and a pre-booking ticket system will be available online over the coming month.
"We’d like to ask all our visitors who are paying on the door to use contactless payments, and to be patient with the queuing system.”
Ticket prices cost £4.50 for adults, £3.50 for concessions, £2 for children and under fives go free.
Shrewsbury Castle is owned and managed by Shropshire Council.
