In common with most other castles held by the Crown and therefore not inhabited, Bridgenorth seems to have been allowed to fall into decay from the reign of Edward I., so that probably little remained beyond the walls. At any rate, it played no part in English history until the great rebellion, when the town declared for the king, for whom the castle was garrisoned. The tower was attacked by the Parliamentary forces on the north side, and was entered by a breach near St. Leonard’s Church. Upon this the town was burned up to the castle, which still held out. The Parliamentary batteries are said to have been posted upon the Oldbury earthwork, which is probable enough, though there are no traces of parapets or breastworks of that date, which, however, from the distance from the castle and the deep valley between, were probably not needed. The garrison held out three weeks, and capitulated on honourable terms. The castle was blown up, and the materials probably sold. Any account of Bridgenorth Castle would be very imperfect that did not take notice of the very remarkable earthworks seen in its neighbourhood, and which are evidently connected with the events referred to as of the ninth and tenth centuries. These are three in number—Oldbury, Quatford Castle, and Quatford; and first of Oldbury. On the left bank of the Severn, about a quarter of a mile below and south-west of the castle, and on the opposite side of the deep dry valley that forms its western defence, the high ground of Oldbury is broken by three deep combes which descend to the river, and between which are two high ridges or knolls, steep towards the Severn and the combe on either side, and on the west connected by a neck with the higher land. The larger of these, that nearest the castle, is known by the inelegant but most descriptive name of “Pan Pudding Hill.” It does, in fact, much resemble in figure a beef-steak pudding just turned over out of the pan in which it was boiled. Naturally oblong, it has been scarped and rounded. The circular flat top is 150 feet diameter. In the centre is a slight nipple-like mound 3 feet high, and a raised bank now about 4 feet high crests its circumference. Towards the river the slope is steep for 50 feet or 60 feet, towards the land it is protected by a cross trench about 50 feet broad and 10 feet to 12 feet deep. Half-way down the slope on the eastern side is a narrow ledge or path which may have been protected by a stockade. Towards the south this ledge expands into a stage or shelf from 90 feet to 100 feet broad, and which is excavated so as to carry a ditch. The arrangements are very simple, and the mound is mainly natural, though scarped and fashioned by art. It was probably here that the Parliamentary guns were posted in the seventeenth century.