Framlingham Castle will reopen its doors on 16 June allowing visitors to uncover the 900-year-old story of the site after a £1.2 million investment and conservation project.

A new exhibition has been created within the castle’s workhouse, which features a walkthrough of the castle’s varied owners and interactive games that bring the history of its past inhabitants to life. Previous residents include Mary Tudor, who was stationed at the castle when she was proclaimed queen in 1553.

Conserving the Castle Walls

The castle’s curtain wall has also been carefully conserved by English Heritage for future generations to enjoy.

Working with specialist contractors, essential repairs have been made to parts of the curtain wall, wall walk and bridges using heritage skills such as lime slaking, mixing of mortars, repointing, stone carving and carpentry.

The charity now plans to fundraise for a second phase of work which would include the creation of a lift to all floors, and the opening of the remaining wall walk to provide a complete the 360° experience of exploring the whole circuit.

Castle on the hill

Framlingham Castle and its distinctive curtain wall played a starring role in the video for Ed Sheeran’s hit single ‘Castle on the Hill.’ Described by Ed as a “love song to Suffolk”, the singer has often spoken of his love for his home town and the song wistfully remembers how he often “watched the sun set over the castle on the hill”.

Find out more by visiting the Framlingham Castle page.

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