Bilston castle

[Figleaf]

Silver tokens are strong in heraldics, but when they are not, they often show a local point of interest. The castle looked intriguing, so I wanted to know what it looks like today. My first attempts, looking around Castle Street in Bilston, were fruitless, until I noticed that Bilston was subsumed in Dudley.

Sure enough, I spotted the castle near Castle Hill. It's now part of the local zoo and called Dudley castle. Old farmer Bill, whose ton (farm) gave the town its name must be spinning in his grave. It doesn't look as good as it did in 1811 either. Only the flanking towers were left at least partly. Nothing reminded of the middle tower. I wonder what happened to it in the last two centuries. A fire? Wartime bombs? Neglect? Fortunately, we have coins to see what it once looked like.

Peter

[andyg]

This is not Dudley Castle, it's the coat of arms of the town (not the surname) of Stafford, Bilston was (pre 1974) part of Staffordshire.

I presume it's Stafford Castle,


More here

[Figleaf]

I take your point that it's Bilston, Staffs, but it can't possibly be Staffordshire castle, as, according to your linked page, that was completely destroyed down to the foundations in 1811, with reconstruction starting in 1813 only. As for the arms, the closest I got (through this site) was the former Stafford borough council (pictured) dating from the 17th century. All other arms connected with Stafford or Staffordshire I found were quite different. Note the four towers and single lion on the arms as opposed to three towers and five lions on the token. I think this destroys the theory that the castle could be a heraldic device.

Peter

[andyg]

I disagree, the lions I think are a heraldic device - so why not the castle as well?

It's not just me that thinks these are the arms of Stafford,
The Silver tokens of Great Britain & Ireland, the dependencies, & colonies 1856 courtesy of Google books.