Walsall Castle

Walsall Castle was a moated manor house built between the 12th and 15th centuries in the market town of Walsall. The site now lies beneath a car park for Walsall Manor Hospital, with no visible remains left above ground. The moat once ran along what is now southern Moat Street, though all earthworks have been flattened over time. Records from 1275 show the castle was owned by William de Morteyn, who passed it to his son Roger in 1283. The Basset family of Drayton later took control until the barony ended in 1390. The castle saw significant changes under Ralph Basset, the 3rd Baron Basset of Drayton, who rebuilt it between 1385 and 1386. Lady Neville stayed there with her children in 1385–86 while Ralph owned the manor. A deer park was added, and metal-working took place in part of the building. By 1417 the chapel was no longer in use, and the manor was abandoned by the 1430s. By 1576, all traces of Ralph Basset’s manor had vanished. Today, the site is marked only by archaeological work carried out since the 1970s by the Walsall Local History Society. Excavations between 1972 and 1975 uncovered remnants of the past, though nothing remains visible above ground. The car park now covers the former location, and the moat’s water disappeared long ago. The castle’s history is preserved in records and local research rather than standing structures. Visitors see a modern car park where a medieval manor once stood.