Caldwell Tower is acknowledged as being Kidderminster’s oldest secular building – only the parish church has a longer history. It also provides the town with a link to one of Britain’s most dramatic historic moments – the Gunpowder Plot, when a disaffected group of Catholic dissidents sought to blow up King James 1 ( and VI) and all of his Parliament.

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The Tower itself dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The three-storey tower was built of red sandstone and consisted of a vaulted ground floor, which was only accessible through an external door, a vaulted first floor and a chamber above. In 1589 the castle was sold by the Wyntour family, who sixteen years later would be embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot, to Francis Clare. Robert Catesby who was the leader of the Plot was a cousin to the Wyntours. Two Wyntour brothers were also leading members of the Plot.

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The Clare family held Caldwall throughout the seventeenth century and rose in prominence, with Sir Ralph Clare becoming a notable Royalist, whose actions included participation in the Battle of Worcester (1651). Although exiled, the family were able to reclaim their estates after the Restoration of the monarchy. Around 1690 they had a three-storey brick-built building connected to the tower on the north-west side.

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Caldwall passed to the Jeffrey family in 1777 and in the nineteenth century was bought by George Turton a local industrialist. Upon his death in 1897 the estate was acquired by the Corporation of Kidderminster who used it for a variety of functions over the next hundred years, However, the seventeenth century house fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1961 leaving Caldwall Tower as a standalone entity.

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In1998 it was acquired by a private individual and renovated in a wholly sensitive and appropriate manner, to become a private residence – which it remains to this day.

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For information of some of the towns most celebrated people see Notable Local People