SJ7906 : Remains of cellars at Tong Castle
taken 4 years ago, near to Tong, Shropshire, England
Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.
In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.
There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.
In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.
In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)
Read more at Wikipedia Link
Originally a 12th - 14th century (probably) site, the original castle was demolished in the 1760s, and replaced by a sandstone house in a Gothic style, set in a landscape designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown; this was subsequently demolished in 1954, and the M54 was constructed through the site in the 1980s, pretty much destroying almost all that was left by then. On the north side of the motorway, there are a few sizable walls, remains of vaulted cellars, a doorway and a small section of staircase. On the south side, little is left apart from a couple of roughly-coursed walls and footings to the house platform. There are outlying parts of the estate around the area, including some walls and a pulpit at SJ79860659 SJ7906 : Boundary Wall for Tong Castle and remains of pulpit, and another piece of similar wall outside a farm in Tong Norton at SJ79370814, plus a number of eccentric agricultural outbuildings such as the SJ7807 : Hen/fowl house at Vauxhall Farm The original entrance gateway to the 1765 Tong Castle house is still in evidence near the church in Tong SJ7907 : Former gateway to Tong Castle