We visited Stokesay Castle after joining English Heritage, so we had free entrance. The price is quite reasonable for non-members and under 5's go free.
Stokesay Castle is a good, well preserved, Medieval Manor House / Castle.
The visitor centre is a modern building set back a little way from the actual castle which is fairly typical of English Heritage properties. The tea room is located inside the Gatehouse, with a small seating area in a different room to the counter and kitchen.
The thing that really impressed me about the castle is how well preserved it is including an impressive wooden roof over the great hall, and wood panelled rooms. It was also good that much of the castle could be accessed including the roof the tower and inside the upper floors of the west building, including the original wooden staircase. There was one area that was closed due to health and safety reasons. It appeared to be a temporary closure.
There are no signs within the castle, instead providing a personal audio tour. Whilst I find audio tours to be quite interesting I don't normally go for those when visiting with my children as they tend to encourage quite a slow pace which can get boring. I instead used the guide book and just explored the castle with the kids.
There were a few books in the west building that the kids enjoyed looking at and they also enjoyed a run around the moat walk.
We also had a look around the Church of St John the Baptist which is next to the Castle.
My children enjoyed exploring the castle which we intentionally kept our visit fairly short compared with some other days out. The roof of the great hall was certainly one of the highlights for me.
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