England · Restored
Rowton Castle
Rowton Castle is a 17th-century country house on the site of an earlier castle near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. It is Grade II* listed and served as the home of the Royal National College for the Blind from 1941 until the college relocated in 1978; since 1989 it has been converted to a hotel and wedding venue.
Its prime
1952
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1952
What Rowton Castle looked like in its prime.
A 17th‑century stone country house built on the site of an earlier castle, sitting within formal grounds of some 17 acres. The main building is a substantial multi‑storey masonry block with pitched roofs and chimneys and an eastern range of classrooms added in the college period; coursed stone walls and tall mullioned windows are visible; in 1952 the house and its surrounding landscaped lawns and mature trees stood intact and in active institutional use.
Its story
The story of Rowton Castle.
The Lysters and Lord Rowton, to 1903
The castle standing at Rowton, some six miles from Shrewsbury in the Shropshire parish of Alberbury with Cardeston, was built in the 17th century, on a site where a previous castle had stood for several hundred years before it. The house belonged to the Lyster family down to the death of Lady Charlotte Lyster in 1889, when it passed to her nephew Montagu Corry, 1st Baron Rowton. On Corry's death in 1903 it went in turn to his nephew, Colonel N. A. Lowry Curry.
The Royal Normal College for the Blind, 1941–1978
The next owner, Major Lees, sold Rowton in 1941 to the Royal Normal College for the Blind. The college had been in London, at Upper Norwood, until that site was bombed during the Blitz and then acquired by the authorities, leaving it to find new premises. At Rowton the castle itself became the accommodation block for staff and senior pupils and held the dining areas for junior and senior pupils alike, with classrooms built on the eastern side of the building.
In 1953 a fire destroyed much of the buildings, along with the 38 pianos and organs on which pupils were trained in tuning. One of the students raised the alarm and everybody present was evacuated to safety, and training continued after Henshaw's Institution for the Blind took in students and staff as a temporary measure. As the college expanded it outgrew Rowton and bought further premises in and around Shrewsbury, before relocating to Hereford in 1978, to accommodation that let it bring its facilities together on one campus.
Empty Years and the Hotel Conversion, 1978–1989
After the college left, the building stood empty for several years. It had been listed at Grade II* in 1952. Work to convert it into a hotel began in 1986, and the hotel opened on 12 April 1989; the former classrooms on the east side have since been converted into private apartments. The house is used today as a hotel, restaurant and wedding venue within its 17 acres of gardens.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1952.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Rowton Castle, including 5 interiors: main accommodation block corridor, senior pupils' dining area, junior pupils' dining area and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Rowton Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Rowton Castle.
The families that held Rowton Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Lyster
In the possession of the Lyster family until the death of Lady Charlotte Lyster in 1889.
Corry
Held by Montagu Corry, 1st Baron Rowton, from 1889 until his death in 1903.
Nearby
