Hartlebury Castle Hartlebury Castle , a Grade I listed building , in Worcestershire , central England , was built in the mid - 13th century as a fortified manor house on land given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia . It lies near Stourport town in north Worcestershire . The manor of Hartlebury belonged to the bishops of Worcester from before the Norman Conquest . The castle was thus one of the residences of the medieval bishops and their principal residence in later periods . History . From the early 13th century until 2007 , Hartlebury Castle was the residence of the bishop of Worcester . Bishop Walter de Cantilupe , a supporter of Simon de Montfort , began to fortify the Castle , which was embattled and finished by his successor , Godfrey Giffard , 1268 . The gate - house was added in the reign of Henry VI by Bishop Carpenter . In 1646 during the Civil War Hartlebury Castle was strongly fortified and held for King Charles I by Captain Sandys and Lord Windsor , with 120 foot soldiers and 20 horse ( cavalry troopers ) , and had provisions for twelve months . When summoned by Colonel Thomas Morgan for Parliament , it surrendered in two days without firing a shot . The Castle was slighted , and the Parliamentary Commissioners seized the Castle and manor , and sold them to Thomas Westrowe for £3 , 133 6s . 8d . At the Restoration they were given back to the Bishop of Worcester . The avenue of limes in the park was planted by Bishop Stillingfleet . Bishop Pepys made a present of the deer , which had been kept there from time immemorial , to Queen Victoria . Some idea of how a bishop ' s family lived in the mid - 19th century can be gained from the diary of the ten - year - old Emily Pepys , daughter of Bishop Pepys , which covers a six - month period in 1844 – 5 . The library was built by Bishop Hurd , who also presented to it the choicest works from the libraries of Pope and Warburton . The copy of the Iliad from which Pope ' s translation was made is among them . By 1890 some of the Castle moats had been filled up and laid out as flower gardens . With the coming of a Bishop Inge in 2008 , the Bishop ' s residence was moved from the Castle to a house adjacent to the Cathedral in the city of Worcester itself . In 1964 , the north wing of the castle was taken over by Worcestershire County Council for the creation of a County Museum and in 1966 the Worcestershire County Museum was opened to the public . The future of the rest of the historic building ( including the Hurd Library , a special gallery built by Bishop Hurd in 1782 and which still contains his extensive and unique collection of books ) is at the present time ( May 2008 ) uncertain . In 2010 , BBC Midlands News reported that Hartlebury Castle was being put up for sale and that local people had started a campaign to stop it falling into private hands . Campaigners have been given until April 2011 to raise £2 , 000 , 000 or the house would be put on the open market . It was reported on 17 August 2012 that the Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust had agreed to pay its owners , the Church of England , £2 . 45 million for the freehold of the buildings , gardens and parks . Moves to raise the purchase price from the Heritage Lottery Fund and from private donors were in progress . Worcestershire County Museum . The Worcestershire County Museum is housed in the servants ' quarters of Hartlebury Castle . The exhibits focus on local history , and include toys , archaeology , costumes , crafts by the Bromsgrove Guild , local industry and transportation , and area geology and natural history . There are period room displays including a schoolroom , nursery and scullery , and Victorian , Georgian and Civil War rooms . The castle grounds include a cider mill and the Transport Gallery that features vehicles including a fire engine , hansom cab , bicycles , carts and a collection of Gypsy caravans .