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Samuel West [SEP] West is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts, and was a member of the council of the British Actors' Union Equity from 1996–2000 and 2008–2014. He is a keen birdwatcher. In 2007, West moved in with playwright Laura Wade, but in 2011 the couple temporarily split up.

Samuel West [SEP] In 2013, West was cast in a minor role in "The Riot Club", the film version of Wade’s successful play, "Posh" and in 2014 the couple had a daughter. In August 2017, the couple had a second daughter.

Samuel West [SEP] He also narrated five BBC documentary series for producer Laurence Rees centered on the Second World War: In addition, he narrated the Yorkshire Television documentary "The SS in Britain" for director Julian Hendy in 1999, and considering his role in the ITV drama series "Mr Selfridge", he was the voiceover for "Secrets of Selfridges" (PBS) in 2014.

Samuel West [SEP] West has recorded over fifty audiobooks, among which are the Shakespeare plays "All's Well That Ends Well", "Coriolanus", "Henry V", "The Merchant of Venice", "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Much Ado About Nothing", "Richard II" and "Macbeth" (directed by Steven Berkoff), the Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson ("The Wind Singer", "Slaves of the Mastery" and "Firesong"), the Arthur trilogy by Kevin Crossley-Holland ("The Seeing Stone", "At the Crossing Places" and" King of the Middle March"), five books by Sebastian Faulks ("Charlotte Gray", "Birdsong", "The Girl at the Lion d'Or", "Human Traces" and "A Possible Life"), four by Michael Ridpath ("Trading Reality", "Final Venture", "Free to Trade", and "The Marketmaker"), two by George Orwell ("Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Homage to Catalonia"), two by Mary Wesley ("An Imaginative Experience" and "Part of the Furniture"), two by Robert Goddard ("Closed Circle" and "In Pale Battalions") and several compilations of poetry "(Realms of Gold: Letters and Poems of John Keats", "Bright Star", "The Collected Works of Shelley", "Seven Ages", "Great Narrative Poems of the Romantic Age" and "A Shropshire Lad)".

Samuel West [SEP] Also "Faust", "Bomber", "Doctor Who: The Vengeance of Morbius", "Empire of the Sun", "Brighton Rock", "Fair Stood the Wind for France", "Fluke", "Great Speeches in History", "How Proust Can Change Your Life", "Lady Windermere's Fan", "Peter Pan", "The Alchemist", "The Day of the Triffids", "The Hairy Hands", "The Lives of Christopher Chant", "The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous", "The Queen's Man", "The Solitaire Mystery", "The Swimming Pool Library", "The Two Destinies", "The Velveteen Rabbit", "The Way I Found Her", "The Way to Dusty Death", "The Woodlanders", "Under the Net", "Wuthering Heights" and Philip Pullman's "Grimm Tales for Young and Old".

Samuel West [SEP] In June 2012, West recorded an English narration of "The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My" by Tove Jansson for an interactive audiobook developed by Spinfy and published by Sort of Books. In May 2015, West's reading of "Brighton Rock" was chosen as one of 'The 20 best audiobooks of all time' by Carole Mansur of the Daily Telegraph.

Samuel West [SEP] As a reciter West has worked with all the major British orchestras, as well as the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.. Works include Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" and "The Soldier's Tale", Prokofiev's "Eugene Onegin", Beethoven's "Egmont", Schoenburg's "Ode To Napoleon", Strauss' "Enoch Arden", Saint-Saëns’ "Carnival of the Animals", Bernstein's "Kaddish", Walton's "Façade" and "Henry V", "Night Mail" and "The Way to the Sea" by Britten and Auden, the world premieres of "Concrete" by Judith Weir at the Barbican and Howard Goodall’s "Jason and the Argonauts" at the Royal Albert Hall and the UK premiere of Jonathan Harvey's final piece "Weltethos" at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Samuel West [SEP] In 2007 West made his New York recital debut in the first performance of "Little Red Violin" by Anne Dudley and Steven Isserlis. In November 2010, West performed a new English translation of Grieg's complete incidental music to Ibsen’s play "Peer Gynt" with the Southampton Philharmonic Choir at Southampton Guildhall. He has performed at the Proms six times, including the suite version of "Henry V" at the 2002 Last Night of the Proms.

Samuel West [SEP] He has also appeared with the Nash Ensemble, the Raphael Ensemble, The Hebrides Ensemble, Ensemble 360 and the Lindsay, Dante and Endellion Quartets at the Wigmore Hall, London. Recordings include Prokofief's "Eugene Onegin" with Sinfonia 21 and Edward Downes, "Salad Days" and Walton's "Henry V" with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin.

Samuel West [SEP] As a choral singer, West has participated in three Choir of London tours to Palestine: in May 2006, when he also gave poetry readings as part of the concert programme; in April 2007 when he directed "The Magic Flute". and in September 2013 (see below).

Samuel West [SEP] In 2013, the centenary year of Benjamin Britten, West narrated the Britten/Auden film score "Night Mail" with the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall and later added "Coal Face, God’s Chillun, The Peace of Britain, The Way to the Sea" and "The King's Stamp" with the Aurora Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth and Fairfield Halls. In June he played God in Britten’s "Noye’s Fludde" in Harrogate.

Samuel West [SEP] In July he appeared in a Proms Plus broadcast discussing Britten’s setting of poetry. In September he toured Palestine with the Choir of London as staff director of a new opera based on Britten’s "Hymn to St Cecilia" and sang in Britten’s "St Nicolas".

Samuel West [SEP] In October, he narrated the concert world premiere of "Britten in America" for the Hallé orchestra, which was released on CD together with West’s recordings of speeches to Britten’s incidental music for Auden and Isherwood’s play "The Ascent of F6" (the disc, "Britten to America", was later nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium). He also toured a program of Britten cabaret songs and Auden poems across the UK with Ruthie Culver and the UtterJazz Quartet.

Samuel West [SEP] In June 2013 he appeared in the video for "Handyman Blues" by Billy Bragg, directed by Johnny Vegas. On 14 July 2017, one month after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, BBC's Newshour programme invited West to read out an excerpt from a letter written by an anonymous firefighter giving a personal account of the fire scene and his inner thoughts on duty that night.

Samuel West [SEP] As actor As reader Samuel West has received nine AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narration: "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham (1996), "Peter Pan" by J.M.Barrie (1997), "Charlotte Gray" by Sebastian Faulks (1999), "The Way I Found Her" by Rose Tremain (2000), "The Swimming Pool Library" by Alan Hollinghurst (2007), "Faust" by Goethe (2011), "A Shropshire Lad" by A. E. Housman (2011), "A Possible Life" by Sebastian Faulks (2012) and Philip Pullman's "Grimm Tales for Young and Old" (2013) As director

Timothy West [SEP] Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English film, stage and television actor, with more than fifty years of varied work in the business. As well as many classical theatre performances, he has appeared frequently on television, including spells in both "Coronation Street" as Eric Babbage and Stan Carter in "EastEnders", and also in " Not Going Out", as the original Geoffrey Adams.

Timothy West [SEP] He is married to the actress Prunella Scales; since 2014 they have been seen travelling together on British and overseas canals in the Channel 4 series "Great Canal Journeys". West was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, the only son of Olive (née Carleton-Crowe) and actor Lockwood West (1905-1989).

Timothy West [SEP] He was educated at the John Lyon School, Harrow on the Hill, at Bristol Grammar School, where he was a classmate of Julian Glover, and at Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster). He has a sister named Patricia who is 5 years younger than himself. West worked as an office furniture salesman and as a recording technician, before becoming an assistant stage manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.

Timothy West [SEP] In 1959, he wrote and produced a short audio play, "This Gun That I Have in My Right Hand Is Loaded", satirising typical mistakes of radio drama, including over-explanatory dialogue and misuse of sound cues. West played repertory seasons in Newquay, Hull, Northampton, Worthing and Salisbury before making his London debut at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1959 in the farce "Caught Napping".

Timothy West [SEP] He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for three seasons: the 1962 Arts Theatre Experimental season ("Nil Carborundum" and "Afore Night Come"), the 1964 'Dirty Plays' season ("Victor", the premiere production of "Marat/Sade" and the revival of "Afore Night Come") and the 1965 season at Stratford and later at the Aldwych Theatre appearing in "The Comedy of Errors", "Timon of Athens", "The Jew of Malta", "Love's Labour's Lost" and Peter Hall's production of "The Government Inspector", in a company which included Paul Scofield, Eric Porter, Janet Suzman, Paul Rogers, Ian Richardson, Glenda Jackson and Peter McEnery.

Timothy West [SEP] West has played Macbeth twice, Uncle Vanya twice, Solness in "The Master Builder" twice and King Lear four times: in 1971 (aged 36) for Prospect Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival; on a worldwide tour in 1991 in Dublin for Second Age; in 2003 for English Touring Theatre, on tour in the UK and at the Old Vic; and in 2016 at the Bristol Old Vic.

Timothy West [SEP] Having spent years as a familiar face who never quite became a household name, West's big break came with the major television series, "Edward the Seventh" (1975), in which he played the title role from the age of twenty-three until the King's death; his real-life sons, Samuel and Joseph, played the sons of King Edward VII as children.

Timothy West [SEP] Other screen appearances have included "Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971), "The Day of the Jackal" (1973), "The Thirty Nine Steps" (1978), "Masada" (1981), "Cry Freedom" (1987) and Luc Besson's "" (1999). In Richard Eyre's "Iris" (2001) he plays Maurice and his son Samuel West plays Maurice as a young man.

Timothy West [SEP] West starred as patriarch Bradley Hardacre in Granada TV's satirical Northern super-soap "Brass" over three seasons (1982–1990). West appeared in the series Miss Marple in 1985 (in "A Pocket Full of Rye" as the notorious Rex Fortescue), and made a memorable appearance as Professor Furie in "A Very Peculiar Practice" in 1986. In 1997, he played Gloucester in the BBC television production of "King Lear", with Ian Holm as Lear.

Timothy West [SEP] From 2001 to 2003, he played the grumpy and frequently volatile Andrew in the BBC drama series "Bedtime". At Christmas 2007, he joined "Not Going Out" as Geoffrey Adams. He reprised this role in two episodes of series three; Geoffrey Whitehead played the role in later seasons. In 2011, he appeared alongside John Simm and Jim Broadbent in BBC series "Exile", written by BAFTA-winning Danny Brocklehurst.

Timothy West [SEP] In February 2013, West joined the cast of ITV soap "Coronation Street", playing Eric Babbage. He joined the cast of "EastEnders" in 2013, playing Stan Carter from January 2014. He filmed his final scenes for "EastEnders" in February 2015. He was Artistic Director of the Forum Theatre, Billingham in 1973, where he directed "We Bombed in New Haven" by Joseph Heller, "The Oz Obscenity Trial" by David Livingstone and "The National Health" by Peter Nichols.

Timothy West [SEP] He was co-artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre from 1980–81, where he directed "Trelawny of the 'Wells'" and "The Merchant of Venice". He was Director-in-Residence at the University of Western Australia in 1982. In 2004, he toured Australia with the Carl Rosa Opera Company as Director of the production of "H.M.S. Pinafore", also singing the role of Sir Joseph Porter. He was replaced in the singing role by Dennis Olsen for the Perth and Brisbane performances.

Timothy West [SEP] West was married to actress Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961 and has a daughter Juliet. In 1963 he married actress Prunella Scales, with whom he has two sons. One, Samuel West, is an actor of note. Their younger son Joseph (Joe) participated in two episodes of Great Canal Journeys filmed in France, where Joe (a teacher and translator) lives with his French wife and their children. After the broadcast of the French canal episodes, Joe was interviewed in several newspapers.

Timothy West [SEP] "The Guardian" crossword setter "Biggles" referred to West's 50th wedding anniversary in its prize crossword puzzle (number 26,089) on 26 October 2013. West and Scales are patrons of the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham, The Kings Theatre in Gloucester and of the Conway Hall Sunday Concerts programme, the longest running series of chamber music concerts in Europe. West is an Ambassador of SOS Children's Villages, an international orphan charity providing homes and mothers for orphaned and abandoned children.

Timothy West [SEP] He currently supports the charity's annual World Orphan Week campaign which takes place each February. West is patron of the National Piers Society, a charity dedicated to preserving and promoting seaside piers. He and Prunella Scales are patrons of Avon Navigation Trust, the charity that runs the River Avon from Stratford-upon-Avon to Tewkesbury. They both support ANT by attending the Stratford River Festival every year. West supports Cancer Research UK.

Timothy West [SEP] West is a supporter of the Talyllyn Railway, the first preserved railway in the world. He has visited on a number of occasions, the last being the summer of 2015 to attend the Railway's 150th anniversary. He is also a keen supporter of the Inland Waterways Association, and since 2014 has featured together with his wife in the "Great Canal Journeys" series for Channel 4.

Timothy West [SEP] West was president of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (being succeeded by Benedict Cumberbatch in January 2018) and is President of the Society for Theatre Research. He is also patron of London-based drama school, The Associated Studios. In 1984, he was appointed CBE for his services to drama. Timothy West was a member of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company in 1962 and has taken part in over 500 radio broadcasts.

Timothy West [SEP] Timothy West has read many unabridged audiobooks, including the complete Barchester Chronicles and the complete Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope, and seven of George MacDonald Fraser's "The Flashman Papers" books. He has received four AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narration.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Stokesay Castle is one of the finest surviving fortified manor houses in England, and situated at Stokesay in Shropshire. It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence de Ludlow, on the earlier castle (some of which still survives) founded by its original owners the de Lacy family, from whom it passed to their de Verdun heirs, who retained feudal overlordship of Stokesay until at least 1317.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Laurence 'of' Ludlow was one of the leading wool merchants in England, who intended it to form a secure private house and generate income as a commercial estate. Laurence's descendants continued to own the castle until the 16th century, when it passed through various private owners.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] By the time of the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1641, Stokesay was owned by William Craven, the first Earl of Craven and a supporter of King Charles I. After the Royalist war effort collapsed in 1645, Parliamentary forces besieged the castle in June and quickly forced its garrison to surrender. Parliament ordered the property to be slighted, but only minor damage was done to the walls, allowing Stokesay to continue to be used as a house by the Baldwyn family until the end of the 17th century.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In the 18th century the Baldwyns rented the castle out for a range of agricultural and manufacturing purposes. It fell into disrepair, and the antiquarian John Britton noted during his visit in 1813 that it had been "abandoned to neglect, and rapidly advancing to ruin". Restoration work was carried out in the 1830s and 1850s by William Craven, the second Earl of Craven.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In 1869 the Craven estate, now heavily in debt, was sold to the wealthy industrialist John Derby Allcroft who paid for another round of extensive restoration during the 1870s. Both of these owners attempted to limit any alterations to the existing buildings during their conservation work, which was unusual for this period. The castle became a popular location for tourists and artists, and was formally opened to paying visitors in 1908.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Allcroft's descendants fell into financial difficulties during the early 20th century, however, and it became increasingly difficult for them to cover the costs of maintaining Stokesay. In 1986 Jewell Magnus-Allcroft finally agreed to place Stokesay Castle into the guardianship of English Heritage, and the castle was left to the organisation on her death in 1992. English Heritage carried out extensive restoration of the castle in the late 1980s. In the 21st century, Stokesay Castle continues to be operated as a tourist attraction, receiving 39,218 visitors in 2010.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Architecturally, Stokesay Castle is "one of the best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses in England", according to historian Henry Summerson. The castle comprises a walled, moated enclosure, with an entrance way through a 17th-century timber and plaster gatehouse. Inside, the courtyard faces a stone hall and solar block, protected by two stone towers. The hall features a 13th-century wooden-beamed ceiling, and 17th-century carved figures ornament the gatehouse and the solar.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The castle was never intended to be a serious military fortification, but its style was intended to echo the much larger castles being built by Edward I in North Wales. Originally designed as a prestigious, secure, comfortable home, the castle has changed very little since the 13th century, and is a rare, surviving example of a near complete set of medieval buildings. English Heritage has minimised the amount of interpretative material displayed at the property and kept the castle largely unfurnished.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Stokesay Castle was largely built in its present form during the 1280s and 1290s in the village of Stokesay by Laurence of Ludlow, a very wealthy wool merchant. Stokesay took its name from the Anglo-Saxon word "stoches", meaning cattle farm, and the surname of the de Says family, who had held the land from the beginning of the 12th century onwards. Stokesay was originally owned by the de Lacy family, who had built the first Ludlow Castle within their manor of Stanton Lacy.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In Domesday Book, "Roger de Laci" is recorded as holding "Stoches" of the King in capite. The manor was later held under the de Lacys by members of the de Say family, whose name attached to 'Stoke' created the name - Stokesay - by which it is still known today. In 1241, the then lord of Stokesay, Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath, died. His son Gilbert had predeceased him, so his extensive estates were divided among Walter's granddaughters.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] One of these, Margery, had married Sir John de Verdun of Alton Castle in Staffordshire, son of the heiress Roesia de Verdun and Theobald le Botiller. Margery's share of her grandfather's estates included Stokesay and a moiety of nearby Ludlow, which thereafter were held by the de Verduns.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] On 1st September 1270, to raise money to pay for going on the Eighth Crusade with Prince Edward, John de Verdun conveyed a tenancy of his manor of Stokesay to Philip de Whichecote for a term of 3 years, which was later extended for the term of Philip's life, when it would revert to John de Verdun. However, John died in 1274 and Stokesay was inherited by his son Theobald I de Verdun.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The Inquisition Post Mortem following John's death revealed that the de Verduns' feofee at Stokesay at the time was Reginald de Grey. In the feodaries of 1284, Laurence de Ludlow is said to "hold the Vill of Stokesay for one knight's-fee under John de Grey, which John held it under Theobald de Verdun, who held of the King". It appears that in 1317, Stokesay was still being held by the Ludlows under the de Verduns.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] This is shown by the Inquest Post Mortem of Theobald II de Verdun (son of Theobald I de Verdun), taken in March of that year, which "gives the Heirs of Sir William de Lodlowe as holding of the deceased a knight's-fee in Southstoke" ('north Stoke' was one of the de Verdun's other manors in Shropshire, Stoke-on-Tern). It was only sometime after this date that Stokesay finally passed entirely into the possession of the Ludlow family.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] By chance there may have been earlier connections between Laurence de Ludlow and the de Verduns, which may add to the context within which he become their tenant. Laurence de Ludlow's wife was Agnes de Audley, daughter of James de Audley, Justicier of Ireland and Sheriff of Staffordshire & Shropshire. James de Audley's family had been tenants and close associates of the de Verdons of Alton.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] James's father, Henry de Audley had married Petronilla de Gresley, one of the de Stafford family - her great great grandfather was Robert de Stafford. Petronilla's sister Hawise de Gresley had married Henry de Verdun, son of Bertram III de Verdun. This means that Laurence de Ludlow was related by marriage to cousins of his feudal lord Theobald de Verdun.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Laurence's mother-in-law Ela de Audley was the daughter of William II Longespée, whose father William I Longespée, Earl of Salisbury was the illegitimate son of Henry II by Ida de Tosny, who became the wife of Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. John de Verdun's grandfather, Nicholas de Verdun had been brought up at the court of Ida and Roger Bigod.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Laurence bought the tenancy of Stokesay from Philip de Whichecote in 1281, possibly for around £266, which he could easily have afforded, as he had made a fortune from the wool trade. Laurence exported wool from the Welsh Marches, travelling across Europe to negotiate sales, and maintaining offices in Shrewsbury and London. He had become the most important wool merchant in England, helping to set government trade policies and lending money to the major nobility.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Stokesay Castle would form a secure personal home for Laurence, well-positioned close to his other business operations in the region. It was also intended to be used as a commercial estate, as it was worth around £26 a year, with of agricultural land, of meadows, an expanse of woodland, along with watermills and a dovecot. Work began on the castle at some point after 1285, and Laurence moved into his new property in the early 1290s.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The castle was, as Nigel Pounds describes it, "both pretentious and comfortable", initially comprising living accommodation and a tower to the north. In 1291 Laurence received permission from the King to fortify his castle - a document called a licence to crenellate - and he may have used this authority to construct the southern tower, which had a particularly martial appearance and was added onto the castle shortly afterwards.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In November 1294 Laurence was drowned at sea off the south of England, and his son, William, may have finished some of the final work on Stokesay. His descendants, who took the Ludlow surname, continued to control Stokesay Castle until the end of the 15th century, when it passed into the Vernon family by marriage. Stokesay Castle was passed by Thomas Vernon to his grandson Henry Vernon in 1563.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The family had hopes of becoming members of the peerage and, possibly as a consequence, the property began to be regularly called a "castle" for the first time during this period. Henry divided his time between London and Stokesay, probably staying in the north tower. Henry stood surety for an associate's debts and when they defaulted, he was pursued for this money, resulting in a period of imprisonment in Fleet Prison; by 1598 he sold the castle for £6,000 to pay off his own substantial debts.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The new owner, Sir George Mainwaring, sold the property on again in 1620, via a consortium of investors, to the wealthy widow and former Mayoress of London, Dame Elizabeth Craven for £13,500. The estates around Stokesay were now valuable, bringing in over £300 a year in income. Elizabeth's son, William, spent little time at Stokesay and by the 1640s had leased it out to Charles Baldwyn, and his son Samuel.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] He rebuilt the gatehouse during 1640 and 1641, however, at a cost of around £533. In 1643 the English Civil War broke out between the supporters of King Charles I and Parliament. A Royalist supporter, William spent the war years at Elizabeth Stuart's court at the Hague, and gave large sums of money to the King's war effort.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] William installed a garrison in the castle, where the Baldwins were also strong Royalists, and, as the conflict progressed, the county of Shropshire became increasingly Royalist in sympathies. Despite this, by late 1644 bands of vigilante clubmen had risen up in Shropshire, complaining about the activities of Royalist forces in the region, and demanding, among other things, the removal of the garrison from Stokesay Castle.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] By early 1645 the war had turned decisively against the King, and in February, Parliamentary forces seized the county town of Shrewsbury. This exposed the rest of the region to attack, and in June a force of 800 Parliamentary soldiers pushed south towards Ludlow, attacking Stokesay en route. The Royalist garrison, led by Captain Daurett, was heavily outnumbered and it would have been impossible for them to effectively defend the new gatehouse, which was essentially ornamental.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Nonetheless, both sides complied with the protocols of warfare at the time, resulting in a bloodless victory for the Parliamentary force: the besiegers demanded that the garrison surrender, the garrison refused, the attackers demanded a surrender for a second time, and this time the garrison were able to give up the castle with dignity. Shortly afterwards on 9 June, a Royalist force led by Sir Michael Woodhouse attempted to recapture the castle, now garrisoned by Parliament.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The counter-attack was unsuccessful, ending in the rout of the Royalist forces in a skirmish at the nearby village of Wistanstow. Unlike many castles in England which were deliberately seriously damaged, or slighted, to put them beyond military use, Stokesay escaped substantial harm after the war. Parliament sequestrated the property from William and ordered the slighting of the castle in 1647, but only pulled down the castle's curtain wall, leaving the rest of the complex intact.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Samuel returned in 1649 to continue to rent the castle during the years of the Commonwealth, and put in wood panelling and new windows into parts of the property. With the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, William's lands were returned to him, and the Baldwyns continued to lease Stokesay Castle from him.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] During the 18th century, Stokesay Castle continued to be leased by the Baldwyn family, although they sublet the property to a range of tenants; after this point it ceased to be used as a domestic dwelling. Two wood and plaster buildings, built against the side of the hall, were demolished around 1800, and by the early 19th century the castle was being used for storing grain and manufacturing, including barrel-making, coining and a smithy.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The castle began to deteriorate, and the antiquarian John Britton noted during his visit in 1813 that it had been "abandoned to neglect, and rapidly advancing to ruin: the glass is destroyed, the ceilings and floors are falling, and the rains streams through the opening roof on the damp and mouldering walls". The smithy in the basement of the south tower resulted in a fire in 1830, which caused considerable damage to the castle, gutting the south tower.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Extensive decay in the bases of the cruck tresses in the castle's roof posed a particular threat to the hall, as the decaying roof began to push the walls apart. Restoration work was carried out in the 1830s by William Craven, the Earl of Craven. This was a deliberate attempt at conserving the existing building, rather than rebuilding it, and was a very unusual approach at this time. By 1845, stone buttresses and pillars had been added to support parts of the hall and its roof.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Research by Thomas Turner was published in 1851, outlining the history of the castle. Frances Stackhouse Acton, a local landowner, took a particular interest in the castle, and in 1853 convinced William to carry out further repair work on the castle, under her supervision, at a cost of £103. In 1869 the Craven estate, in size but by now heavily mortgaged, were purchased by John Derby Allcroft for £215,000.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Allcroft was the head of Dents, a major glove manufacturer, through which he had become extremely wealthy. The estate included Stokesay Castle, where from around 1875 onwards Allcroft undertook extensive restoration work over several years. Stokesay was in serious need of repairs: the visiting writer Henry James noted in 1877 that the property was in "a state of extreme decay". Allcroft attempted what the archaeologist Gill Chitty has described as a "simple and unaffected" programme of work, which generally attempted to avoid excessive intervention.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] He may have been influenced by the contemporary writings of the local vicar, the Reverend James La Touche, who took a somewhat romanticised approach to the analysis of the castle's history and architecture. The castle had become a popular sight for tourists and artists by the 1870s and the gatehouse was fitted out to form a house for a caretaker to oversee the property. Following the work, the castle was in good condition once again by the late 1880s.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Further repairs to Stokesay Castle were required in 1902, carried out by Allcroft's heir, Herbert, with help from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The Allcroft family faced increasing financial difficulty in the 20th century and the castle was formally opened for visitors in 1908, with much of the revenue reinvested in the property, but funds for repairs remained in short supply.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] By the 1930s the Allcroft estate was in serious financial difficulties, and the payment of two sets of death duties in 1946 and 1950 added to the family's problems. Despite receiving considerable numbers of visitors - over 16,000 in 1955 - it was becoming increasingly impractical to maintain the castle, and calls were made for the State to take over the property. For several decades the owners, Philip and Jewell Magnus-Allcroft, declined these proposals and continued to run the castle privately.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In 1986 Jewell finally agreed to place Stokesay Castle into the guardianship of English Heritage, and the castle was left to the organisation on her death in 1992. The castle was passed to English Heritage largely unfurnished, with minimal interpretative material in place, and it needed fresh restoration.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] There were various options for taking forward the work, including restoring the castle to resemble a particular period in its history; using interactive approaches such as "living history" to communicate the context to visitors; or using the site to demonstrate restoration techniques appropriate to different periods. These were rejected in favour of a policy of minimising any physical intervention during the restoration and preserving the building in the condition it was passed to English Heritage, including its unfurnished interior.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The archaeologist Gill Chitty has described this as encouraging visitors to undergo a "personal discovery of a sense of historical relationship and event" around the castle. Against this background, an extensive programme of restoration work was carried out between August 1986 and December 1989. In the 21st century, Stokesay Castle continues to be operated by English Heritage as a tourist attraction, receiving 39,218 visitors in 2010.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] British Airways, in conjunction with English Heritage, named their last Boeing 757 aircraft "Stokesay Castle" in 2010 for its final month of flying. The castle is protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and as a scheduled monument. Stokesay Castle was built on a patch of slightly rising ground in the basin of the River Onny.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] It took the form of a solar block and hall attached to a northern and southern tower; this combination of hall and tower was not uncommon in England in the 13th century, particularly in northern England. A crenellated curtain wall, destroyed in the 17th century, enclosed a courtyard, with a gatehouse - probably originally constructed from stone, rebuilt in timber and plaster around 1640 - controlling the entrance. The wall would have reached high measured from the base of the moat.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The courtyard, around by , contained additional buildings during the castle's history, probably including a kitchen, bakehouse and storerooms, which were pulled down around 1800. The castle was surrounded by a moat, between and across, although it is uncertain whether this was originally a dry moat, as it is in the 21st century, or water-filled from the pond and nearby stream. The spoil from digging out the moat was used to raise the height of the courtyard.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Beyond the moat were a lake and ponds that were probably intended to be viewed from the south tower. The parish church of St John the Baptist, of Norman origins but largely rebuilt in the middle of the 17th century, lies just alongside the castle. Stokesay Castle forms what archaeologist Gill Chitty describes as "a comparatively complete ensemble" of medieval buildings, and their survival, almost unchanged, is extremely unusual. Historian Henry Summerson considers it "one of the best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses in England".

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The gatehouse is a two-storied, 17th century building with exposed timber and plasterwork, constructed in a distinctively local Shropshire style. It features elaborate wooden carvings on the exterior and interior doorways, including angels, the biblical characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent from the Garden of Eden, as well as dragons and other nude figures. It was designed as essentially an ornamental building, with little defensive value. The south tower forms an unequal pentagon in shape, and has three storeys with thick walls.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The walls were built to contain the stairs and garderobes, the unevenly positioned empty spaces weakening the structure, and this meant that two large buttresses had to be added to the tower during its construction to support the walls. The current floors are Victorian in origin, having been built after the fire of 1830, but the tower remains unglazed, as in the 13th century, with shutters at the windows providing protection in winter.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The basement was originally only accessible from the first floor, and would have provided a secure area for storage, in addition to also containing a well. The first floor, which formed the original entrance to the tower, contains a 17th-century fireplace, reusing the original 13th-century chimney. The second floor has been subdivided in the past, but has been restored to form a single chamber, as it would have been when first built.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The roof of the south tower provides views of the surrounding landscape; in the 13th-century protective wooden mantlets would have been fitted into the gaps of the merlons along the battlements, and during the English Civil War it was equipped with additional wooden defences to protect the garrison. The hall and solar block are adjacent to the south tower, and were designed to be symmetrical when seen from the courtyard, although the addition of the additional stone buttresses in the 19th century has altered this appearance.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The hall is long and wide, with has three large, wooden 13th-century arches supporting the roof, unusually, given its size, using lateral wooden collars, but no vertical king-posts. The roof's cruck joists now rest on 19th-century stone supports, but would have originally reached down to the ground. The roof is considered by the historian Henry Summerson to be a "rare survival for the period".

Stokesay Castle [SEP] In the medieval period a wooden screen would have cut off the north end, providing a more secluded dining area. The solar block has two storeys and a cellar, and would have probably acted as the living space for Laurence of Ludlow when he first moved into the castle. The solar room itself is on the first floor, and is reached by external steps. The wood panelling and carved wooden fireplace are of 17th-century origin, probably from around 1640.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] This woodwork would have originally been brightly painted, and included spy-holes so that the hall could be observed from the solar. The three-storey north tower is reached by a 13th-century staircase in the hall, which leads onto the first floor. The first floor was divided into two separate rooms shortly after the construction of the tower, and contain various decorative tiles, probably from Laurence's house in Ludlow.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The walls of the second floor are mostly half-timbered, jettying out above the stone walls beneath them; the tower has its original 13th-century fireplace, although the wooden roof is 19th-century, modeled on the 13th-century original, and the windows are 17th-century insertions. The details and the carpenters' personal marks on the woodwork show that the hall, solar and north tower were all constructed under the direction of the same carpenter in the late 1280s and early 1290s.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Stokesay Castle was never intended to be a serious military fortification. As long ago as 1787, the antiquarian Francis Grose observed that it was "a castellated mansion rather than a castle of strength", and more recently the historian Nigel Pounds has described the castle as forming "a lightly fortified home", providing security but not intended to resist a military attack.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The historian Henry Summerson describes its military features as "superficial", and Oliver Creighton characterises Stokesay as being more of a "picturesque residence" than a fortification. Among its weaknesses were the positioning of its gatehouse, on the wrong side of the castle, facing away from the road, and the huge windows in the hall, reaching down to the ground and making access relatively easy to any intruder. Indeed, this vulnerability may have been intentional.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] Its builder Laurence was a newly-moneyed member of the upper class, and he may not have wanted to erect a fortification that would have threatened the established Marcher Lords in the region. Nonetheless, Stokesay Castle was intended to have a dramatic, military appearance, echoing the castles then being built by Edward I in North Wales. Visitors would have approached the castle across a causeway, with an excellent view of the south tower, potentially framed by and reflected in the water-filled moat.

Stokesay Castle [SEP] The south tower was probably intended to resemble the gatehouses of contemporary castles such as Caernarfon and Denbigh, and would probably have originally shared the former's "banded" stonework. Cordingley describes the south tower as "adding prestige rather than security". Visitors would then have passed by the impressive outside of the main hall block, before entering the castle itself, which Robert Liddiard notes might have been an "anticlimax from the point of view of the medieval visitor".

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] Yao Wenyuan (January 12, 1931 – December 23, 2005) was a Chinese literary critic, a politician, and a member of the Gang of Four during China's Cultural Revolution. Yao Wenyuan was born in Zhuji, Zhejiang, to an intellectual family. His father, Yao Pengzi (姚蓬子) was a writer, translator and art critic.

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] He began his career in Shanghai as a literary critic, where he became known for his sharp attacks against colleagues, such as in June 1957 against the newspaper "Wenhuibao". Since that time, he began to closely collaborate with leftist Shanghai politicians, including the head of the city's Propaganda Department, Zhang Chunqiao. His article "On the New Historical Beijing Opera 'Hai Rui Dismissed from Office'", published in "Wenhuibao" on November 10, 1965, launched the Cultural Revolution.

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] The article was about a popular opera by Wu Han, who was deputy mayor of Beijing. Zhang Chunqiao and Jiang Qing feared the play could be counter-revolutionary because parallels could be drawn between the characters in the play and officials in the communist government. In the play, Hai Rui, a government official, speaks for the peasants against the imperial government, criticizing officials for hypocritically oppressing the masses while pretending to be virtuous men. Hai Rui is dismissed because of this.

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] Yao claimed it was a coded attack on Mao for dismissing in 1959 then-minister of defense Peng Dehuai, a critic of Mao’s disastrous Great Leap Forward. Confused by this unexpected attack, Beijing's party leadership tried to protect Wu Han, providing Mao the pretext for a full-scale "struggle" against them in the following year. Yao was soon promoted to the Cultural Revolution Group. Yao Wenyuan was an ideal candidate for the criticism for such an opera because of his consistent socialist background.

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] In April 1969 he joined the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, working on official propaganda. A member of "Proletarian writers for purity" he was the editor of "Liberation Daily" Shanghai's main newspaper. He joined the state's efforts to rid China's writers union of the famous writer Hu Feng. In October 1976, he was arrested for his participation in the Cultural Revolution and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Yao Wenyuan [SEP] He was released on October 23, 1996, and spent the remainder of his life writing a book and studying Chinese history. He lived in his hometown of Shanghai and became the last surviving member of the Gang of Four after Zhang Chunqiao died in April 2005. According to China's official Xinhua news agency, he died of diabetes on December 23, 2005, aged 74.

Zhang Chunqiao [SEP] Zhang Chunqiao (; 1 February 1917 – 21 April 2005) was a prominent Chinese political theorist, writer, and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, and was a member of the ultra-Maoist group dubbed the "Gang of Four". Born in Juye County, Shandong, Zhang worked as a writer in Shanghai in the 1930s and became closely associated with the city. After the Yan'an conference in 1938, he joined the Communist Party of China.

Zhang Chunqiao [SEP] With the creation of the People's Republic of China, he became a prominent journalist in Shanghai in charge of the "Liberation Daily" newspaper. He met Jiang Qing in Shanghai and helped to launch the Cultural Revolution. Zhang first came to prominence as the result of his October 1958 "Jiefang" ("Liberation") magazine entitled “Destroy the Ideas of Bourgeois Legal Ownership.”

Zhang Chunqiao [SEP] Mao Zedong ordered the reproduction of the article in "People’s Daily", and personally wrote an accompanying “Editor’s Note” giving the article his own mild approval. He was seen as one of Mao Zedong's full supporters as Mao became involved in an ideological struggle with rival leader Liu Shaoqi. In November 1966, at the outset of the Cultural Revolution, Zhang arrived in Shanghai representing the Central Cultural Revolution Group to stop Cao Diqiu's attempt to disperse workers in Anting.

Zhang Chunqiao [SEP] He signed the Five-point Petition of workers and then organized the Shanghai Commune along with Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan in February 1967, essentially overthrowing the local government and party organization and becoming chairman of the city's Revolutionary Committee, which combined both the former posts of mayor and party secretary, until the latter post was restored in 1971. Zhang also initially served as one of the leaders of the Cultural Revolution Group, in charge of carrying out the Cultural Revolution around China.

Zhang Chunqiao [SEP] He spent much of the Cultural Revolution shuttling between Beijing and Shanghai. In April 1969 he joined the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and in 1973 he was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee, a council of top Communist leaders.