Editing Lancaster Castle (section)

==Current status==
The [[Crown Court]] continues to sit at the castle.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/crime/judge-s-plea-to-keep-historic-city-court-open-1-7407887 | work=Lancaster Guardian | title=Judge's plea to keep historic city court open | date=15 August 2015}}</ref> Closure of the prison will eventually allow the castle to be opened to visitors and tourists as a permanent attraction.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-12896082 | publisher=BBC News | title=Lancaster 'to equal Chester or York' for tourism | date=29 March 2011}}</ref> In the meantime, while access to the keep, towers, battlements and dungeons is currently denied to visitors, the castle operates limited guided tours seven days a week. The Castle Courtyard opened to the public seven days a week in May 2013 and now has a cafe, NICE @ The Castle and regular events now take place every month.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.lancastercastle.com/html/opening_times/default.php |title=Opening times & information |publisher=Lancaster Castle |access-date=17 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819110149/http://www.lancastercastle.com/html/opening_times/default.php |archive-date=19 August 2010 }}</ref> The [[Lancashire Police Museum]], housed within A Wing of the former prison, opened in June 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home |url=https://lancashirepolicemuseum.co.uk/ |website=Lancashire Police Museum |access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the trials of the Pendle witches, a new long-distance walking route called the [[Lancashire Witches Walk]] has been created. Ten ''tercet'' waymarkers, designed by Stephen Raw, each inscribed with a verse of a poem by [[Carol Ann Duffy]] have been installed along the route, with the tenth located here, to mark the end-point.<ref>{{cite web |title="Tercet" waymarkers |url=http://lancashirewitches400.org/#/tercet-waymarkers/4572332163 |website=Lancashire Witches 400 |publisher=Green Close Studios |access-date=29 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221233432/http://lancashirewitches400.org/#/tercet-waymarkers/4572332163 |archive-date=21 February 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lancashire Witches Walk: Day 7 |url=http://forestofbowland.com/files/uploads/pdfs/walks/FOB%20WitchesWalksDay7.pdf |website=Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty |publisher=Lancashire County Council |access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref>

===Refurbishment===
A large-scale refurbishment of the castle has been underway since 2011. In 2016 [[Historic England]] commissioned a tree-ring analysis of oak and pine timbers in the Keep and Gatehouse. The oak timbers in the Keep's undercroft were shown to have been felled in AD 1380s, whilst those from the Great Hall were probably felled slightly later, towards the end of the fourteenth century or very early-fifteenth century. The oak timbers in the Gatehouse were probably felled in, or around, AD 1404.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lancaster Castle, Castle Park, Lancaster: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak and Pine Timbers in the Keep and Gatehouse. Research Report 35/2016|url=https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=15527&ru=/Results.aspx?p=1&n=10&rn=35&ry=2016&ns=1|last=Arnold, Howard, Tyers|date=2016|website=research.historicengland.org.uk|access-date=2020-05-18}}</ref>

The latest phase, started in September 2017 and completed in November 2019, has opened up the former prison kitchen yard.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://northwest.fdmb.co.uk/atkinsons-make-a-move-into-lancaster-castle| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191015134507/https://northwest.fdmb.co.uk/atkinsons-make-a-move-into-lancaster-castle| archive-date = 2019-10-15| title = Atkinsons make a move into Lancaster Castle – North West FDMB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-08|title=Lancaster Castle Restored and Re-Opened!|url=http://www.lancastercastle.com/2019/11/08/castle-restored-and-re-opened/|access-date=2020-10-06|website=Lancaster Castle|language=en-GB}}</ref> This phase created a new teaching centre, as well as more than 5,000 sq ft of space, in which the Duchy has leased a section of the old kitchen to local coffee roasters and tea merchants, J. Atkinson & Co. (established 1837) to run a café.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lancastercastle.com/news/new-phase-of-work-starts-at-lancaster-castle|title=New Phase of Works Starts at Lancaster Castle|website=lancastercastle.com|date=31 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/contractor-picked-for-second-phase-of-lancaster-castle-restoration/|title=Place North West – Contractor picked for second phase of Lancaster Castle restoration|date=3 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lancastercastle.com/2019/06/10/conservation-works-to-continue-until-september-2019/|title=Conservation Works to Continue Until September 2019|date=10 June 2019}}</ref>