Clitheroe Castle, Clitheroe, Lancashire- Building Investigation

Planning applications have been submitted by Ribble Valley Borough Council outlining details of alteration, restoration and adaptation to the Museum, Sound Archive and Court House at Clitheroe Castle, Clitheroe, Lancashire (SD 7424 4169). In particular, it is proposed that the Museum is extended, which will necessitate the erection of a new building, as a consequence English Heritage and Lancashire County Archaeological Service (LCAS) required that a record of the buildings be made in advance of the construction work. OA North, acting on behalf of Turner and Townsend, submitted a project design for the recording programme in response to a brief by LCAS. Clitheroe Castle is situated at the southern end of Clitheroe town and is a designated Scheduled Monument (SM 27747), which incorporates several structures, including Grade I and Grade II Listed Buildings; it is situated in both a Registered Park and Garden and Clitheroe Conservation Area.
Three buildings within the complex at Clitheroe Castle were subject to investigation. These were the main Museum building, the building housing the North West Sound Archive and the former Court House, of which the latter two structures form the southern end of the Stable Range.
The building investigations at Clitheroe Castle consisted of two main levels of recording.. Those areas where intervention is intended to be intrusive, recording to English Heritage Level III (English Heritage 2006) survey was carried out, which included survey work to record the elevations. In addition an outline description of all the buildings (internal and external) was carried out to English Heritage Level II standard, which incorporated a full photographic survey and included areas where changes to the fabric are intended to be minimal or minor repairs are to be carried out .