By 1911, the owner Major Richard Winstanley was unable to pay for the upkeep of the castle and, concerned about its deteriorating condition, proposed placing the property into the guardianship of the Commissioners of Works. Following a survey by the architect Sir Frank Baines, which showed the ruins to need immediate repairs, the Commissioners took over the castle the following year. It was restored by Sir Charles Peers, the Inspector of Ancient Monuments, between 1912 and 1913. He stripped away any remains of the farm, cleared the vegetation from the walls and repaired the brickwork, re-cutting the moat and reconstructing a replica of the medieval bridge.