A castle was ordered on the site by
William I c. 1067 but it was greatly extended under
Roger de Montgomery circa 1070 as a base for operations into Wales, an administrative centre and as a defensive
fortification for the town, which was otherwise protected by the loop of the river. At the start of the civil war between
King Stephen and the
Empress Matilda, the castle was held by
William Fitz Alan, lord of
Oswestry and
Clun, on behalf of Matilda. After a short siege in 1138, King Stephen took the
castle and had the surviving garrison hanged from the battlements. The castle was briefly held by
Llywelyn the Great,
Prince of Wales, in 1215. Parts of the original medieval structure remain largely incorporating the inner bailey of the castle; the outer bailey, which extended into the town, has long ago vanished under the encroachment of later shops and other buildings. The Shropshire Horticultural Society purchased the castle from a private owner, then
Lord Barnard, and gave it to the town in 1924 The museum was officially re-opened by
Princess Alexandra on 2 May 1995. In 2019 it was rebranded as the
Soldiers of Shropshire Museum. In 2019 and 2020 an
archaeology project by
Shropshire Council and the
University of Chester undertook excavations in the castle. Work in 2019 found the remains of the original ditch surrounding the
motte of c.1067, along with a range of
medieval pottery and two arrow heads or crossbow-bolt heads. Excavations in 2020 failed to locate St Michael's
chapel, but did recover evidence of 'high-status feasting', including the bones of a pike and possibly a swan. ==Collection==