WHITTINGTON CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND

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Since the building of the new A5 bypass, Whittington Castle doesn't get seen quite as much as it used to. This Norman castle began its life around 1100 as a wooden motte and bailey fortification, although the site had been in use since the Iron Age. It stayed in its wooden state for almost 200 years before finally being rebuilt in stone by the Fulk-Warin family in 1221, under licence from Henry III.

The castle was besieged by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd in 1223 whilst expanding his territory into Powys and the Welsh marches. Henry III finally granted the castle to the Welshman in 1265, along with several other border fortifications. However, after the eventual of defeat of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282, the castle was restored to the Fulk-Warins.

During the English Civil War of the 17th century the castle was in the hands of the Royalists. In 1643 the castle came under cannon fire from the opposing Parliamentarians and was partially destroyed. After the 'Roundhead' victory the damage was never repaired and it fell in to disrepair after the Civil War. To add insult to injury, one of the towers collapsed into the moat after a severe frost in 1760 . Like most ruins, the castle's stone was used by the locals to surface roads and build houses. The look of the castle today, including a rebuilt gatehouse, is the result of restoration work carried out in 1967.

Our small amount of reconstructive work on the castle came after we were approached by the Preservation Trust to carry out a feasibility study into reconstructing the newly discovered Medieval Garden and the castle itself.  Whilst they liked the results, the cost for them, at the time, was prohibitive.

We were exploring various methods, including Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML). This technology enables anyone on a computer screen to move through the castle in real time, going anywhere they want to. The downside to VRML is that the textures have to be kept to a minimum so you can't create a photorealistic look as you can with QuickTime Animations or QuickTime VR (QTVR).