Eccleshall Castle
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Eccleshall Castle is located in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England. It was originally built in the 13th century. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* listed building.
Eccleshall Castle in 1837
Slighting
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Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative, or social structures. This destruction of property is sometimes extended to the contents
Eccleshall Castle
…had died of a heart attack during the siege and most of the defenders were either drunk or had gone into town drinking in the taverns. The castle was slighted to prevent future use as a stronghold but enough of the building, including an unusual nine-sided tower, together with the moat walls and medieval…
Corfe Castle in Dorset was slighted in 1646 during the English Civil War. Parliament slighted or proposed to slight more than 100 buildings, including castles, town walls, abbeys, and houses.
Slighting could extend beyond the building, and when Kenilworth Castle was slighted in 1649 the moat was drained.
A depiction of slighting from the Tschachtlanchronik, a 15th-century chronicle (Tschachtlanchronik Ms A 120, 127)
Each method of destruction leaves a distinctive trace. At Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire the use of gunpowder left a crater damage pattern.