As the title suggests, Clare Ancient House museum is to have an audio version of its Town Trail. Curator Peggy Smith tells us more…
As well as having a fully illustrated booklet, an audio version of our recently extended Town Trail will shortly be available. This includes additional areas, beyond the official Trail. Visitors will be taken to the top of Clare Castle motte where there are stunning views into the town with its medieval layout, into the whole of the castle with its baileys and its former railway station, and into Essex to the South. Also added is a visit to Clare Common, which was once part of Clare manor, but leased to the poor people of the town by Queen Catherine of Aragon in the 16th century. Clare was then in royal ownership. The Common was not only the location of the Castle’s medieval farm, Erbury, but also it was sited on what may yet be proved to have been an Iron Age fort.
Clare Town and Trail
The audio Town Trail is once again a collaboration with Clare Castle Country Park, benefiting from its grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Park and the town of Clare are brought together in the tour. Clare has over 130 listed buildings and two ancient monuments. It is proud of its multi-faceted heritage, from its Norman castle and its links to royalty, to its role in the wool trade which was responsible for its grand gothic church and an abundance of timber-framed and pargeted buildings, to its Victorian railway buildings.