What is recorded here

Blake's Castle stands on Quay Street as a three-storey medieval tower house built around 1470, its rough limestone walls still bearing a restored machicolation that once defended the entrance below. The building has served as a county jail, a store, and housing for an electrical transformer before becoming a restaurant, proving that survival often requires more uses than pride alone. Its unusual trefoil-headed windows and crenellated roof remain visible beside newer commercial buildings, marking the castle as both a military relic and a working part of the town.

Three-storey medieval tower house, built c.1470, having single-bay ground and first floors and two-bay second floor. Recent commercial buildings flanking to each side are recessed slightly from tower house elevation. Flat roof with crenellated parapet, with projecting machicolation on supporting corbels to top floor above entrance. Coursed roughly dressed limestone rubble walls. Square-headed window openings to upper floors, double-lights to top floor and single-light to first floor, having recent chamfered limestone block-and-start surrounds. East corner of first floor has cusped trefoil-headed windows to two sides, with tooled stone surrounds. Three-centred doorway to ground floor having limestone surround, some stones being replacement, dressed lintel stones, and replacement double-leaf timber door.

Blake's Castle is a typical medieval, urban tower house. It preserves a number of key features, including the interesting and unusual trefoil-headed windows to one corner, and the restored machicolation to the roof level, formerly defending the doorway. During its history this building has functioned as a county jail, a store, as housing for an electrical transformer, and since the 1990s, a restaurant.

This does not grant access. Most recorded buildings are privately owned; view them only from public ground unless the owner allows entry.