3-034-842 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Burning of Warwick Castle, 1871. Engraving '...from a sketch made on the spot, [showing] the aspect of the burning pile from the river Avon and the bridge, with Caesar's Tower and Guy's Tower, which, fortunately, were not injured by the conflagration. Two or three days after the disaster, a party of thirty or forty labourers entered the ruins, and, under the directions of Captain Fosberry, Lord Warwick's agent, commenced removing the many tons of rubbish which filled the desolate chambers. There are twenty-three apartments destroyed, not counting the great hall or the great staircase, near the main, entrance, both which are in ruins. Of the former, there are now left only four bare walls, blackened, scorched, and open to the sky. With regard to the walls of the hall, it is some comfort to find that their stability has not been interfered with, and the room can be easily restored to its former grandeur. There is no crack or fissure of any importance in the surrounding masonry, and the work of restoration will be confined to a new roof and the re-decoration of the walls. Among the works of art rescued is a small painting of the bust of Shakespeare in Stratford Old Church, of great national interest'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.