Hopton Castle project nearing completion

A £1.2 million project spanning the past decade to restore a historic south Shropshire castle is finally set to come to an end, conservation chiefs have revealed.

Hopton Castle, near Craven Arms, has been covered in scaffolding and a plastic shroud for two years as part of a major scheme to support the tower house and make it safe. It could open to the public in the autumn.

Members of Hopton Castle Preservation Trust hope it will be ready for visitors in October, with an official opening next spring.

It had initially been hoped the castle would open this summer, but the project has been slowed by bad weather earlier this year and the discoveries of further archaeological features.

Trust officials were given £880,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund and £150,000 by English Heritage in 2006 towards the restoration work. In September 2008 a deal was struck for the trust to buy the castle and surrounding land from a local landowner.

About £3,000 will also need to be raised annually to maintain the castle. Interpretation boards will also be set up around the site to explain the significance of the ruins.

Channel 4's Time Team visited the site last summer and the archaeology programme was screened in February. A human tooth, a gold coin and three historic toilets were among the discoveries.

Sula Rayska, project manager for the preservation trust, said preparatory work had first started on the scheme 10 years ago and the tower had been in a fragile state.

She said: "People will be able to put the venue on a castle tour with other places of historical interest in the south Shropshire area, such as Clun Castle and Stokesay Castle. The work should have been finished in June but we lost time to the weather. We found we could access new areas of the ground and found lots of exciting new features which necessitated more work than we initially envisaged.

"Hopefully he work will be finished by October and we will be able to open the area up to the public. We will also hold an official opening event next spring."