Vandals put future of Whittington Castle in jeopardy

The trustees of Whittington Castle, an unpaid body of volunteers who care for the 12th Century building, say its future is threatened by the cost of repairing mindless aerosol graffiti.

Specialist experts will have to be brought in to remove the paint in the tower because the castle is an ancient monument.

Chairman of the trustees Jonjo Evans said: “There is growing concern in the village about a lot of recent vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Graffiti has also been daubed on the recently repainted bus shelter and the White Lion pub."

A defibrillator installed by Whittington Parish Council was wrenched off its cabinet and found dumped in the castle grounds recently.

Crisis

Mr Evans said: "I doubt if it is realised in the village just how serious the situation has now become. We are now seeking the co-operation of all villagers, especially parents, in getting to grips with this crisis.

“The saddest thing of all is that most of the kids who love using the castle grounds as a play area are well-behaved youngsters who wouldn’t dream of wrecking what should be the village’s most prized possession. But because of the crass behaviour of a few rather sad lads who think it’s clever to just walk into the unfenced building, point an aerosol at a wall and press the button, the whole future of the castle is now in jeopardy. And even worse, the well-behaved kids are being tarred with the same brush.

“I happen to know some of them are now being kept at home to prevent them from associating with the vandals. We need more parents to be aware of what is happening and perhaps in some cases keep a closer eye on their children’s movements especially at night.”

Vandalism

Trustee, Sarah Thursfield, said “The castle is fortunate in having a wide range of people, a few from the village and many from further afield, who give up their time for nothing to help, using a wide range of skills ranging from grounds maintenance to painting, carpentry, and assistance in the shop, second hand bookshop and restaurant. Thanks to them, we just about break even.

"But the latest spate of vandalism in the open tower will require expensive restoration, and we cannot afford to keep meeting costs like this.

“Our wide range of job descriptions does not, unfortunately, include outreach social worker.”

The castle received a Heritage Lottery grant and other funding 11 years ago, enabling it to carry out important renovations and improvements, helping to turn the important historic site into a major tourist attraction and to create a successful restaurant.

But since then there has been no external funding, and trustees say they depend on revenue from car parking, the restaurant, weddings and parties, and income from popular events such as mediaeval re-enactments and pageants.

"Rising costs have meant that the castle does well to break even," Mr Evans said.

This year some unexpected capital costs, including a new £4,000 heating boiler and a similar amount spent on renewal of expensive catering equipment, has further dented the finances.

Hard-working

“I do not expect the vandals themselves to be greatly concerned about our plight. In my opinion they have no feelings for the rest of us. But unless the community can get together and really tackle this by dealing with these youngsters, then I can see even hard-working trustees like Sarah and myself losing heart. And without trustees to run it, the castle would face dereliction,” he added.

Castle manager, Sue Ellis, said: “We have now tried everything in our efforts to keep the children on side, and all but a tiny minority now behave acceptably. In fact we see children as our most important visitors, because theirs will be the next generation to take over the running of the castle.

“But unless this tiny minority can be somehow brought to heel, there may not be a castle for them to look after.”