the deterioration of the castle continued into the reign of elizabeth i, who was advised that it no longer had any military utility. robert redhead, the tower keeper, became infamous at the time for taking parts of the castle to pieces and selling off the stonework for his own profit. despite numerous attempts by local city and crown officials to halt this, redhead continued to cause considerable damage before being forced to stop. proposals were made to pull down clifford's tower altogether in 1596, but were turned down because of the strength of local feeling.