FUNDING BOOST FOR ACCESS TO WELSH HISTORIC CASTLES
By Graham Spicer 01/03/2006


Culture Minister Alun Pugh at Caernarfon Castle. The Welsh Assembly Government has announced £185,000 additional funding to Cadw

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced increasing funding to help improve access to Wales’ castles and monuments.

Culture Minister Alun Pugh announced a £185,000 grant to Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government’s historic environment division, to develop ideas for access and visitor facilities over the next two years. Caernarfon Castle is top of the list of 128 monuments in Cadw’s care selected for improvements.

“Caernarfon Castle is our flagship monument,” said the minister. “It regularly attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year – the most to any historic site in Wales. Yet the access to the castle is physically hard for many visitors and impossible for some.”


Caernarfon Castle is the first of Wales' historic monuments to be targeted for access improvements. © Cadw

Cadw plans to provide a ramped entrance into the castle, more extensive access to the upper wards within the monument and improved visitor facilities. Precise details are currently being explored.

Although physical access to some monuments will be difficult to improve, Cadw is looking to provide events for a wider range of audiences. It is developing events for families following successful half-term programmes in February 2006 at Caerphilly, Criccieth and Kidwelly castles and Tintern Abbey.

“We are making access to sites a priority, although physical access to a small number is clearly going to be problematic for people with mobility difficulties and parents with children in buggies,” explained Alun Pugh. “Castles were built for defence, not access.”


Cadw cares for 128 castles and monuments in Wales, including Conwy Castle. © Cadw

“There is much we can do, however, to make Welsh heritage intellectually accessible, through interpretation, publications and the use of modern technologies,” he added.

Visitors to many of Cadw’s properties were also offered free entry on St David’s Day, March 1 2006.

Cadw was created in 1984 and aims to promote the conservation and appreciation of Wales’ historic environment.

It has recently completed a 20-year survey to improve the listing of buildings of special architectural and historic interest in Wales. The list has grown from 9,000 in 1984 to almost 30,000 buildings.


Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon, SH 477 626, Gwynedd, Wales
T: 01286 677617
Open: 1 April to 1 June: 09.30 - 17.00 daily 2 June to 28 September: 09.30 - 18.00 daily 29 September to 26 October: 09.30 - 17.00 daily 27 October to 31March: 09.30 - 16.00 Monday to Saturday; 11.00 - 16.00 Sunday
Closed: 24th, 25th, 26th December, 1st January

Making Welsh castles easier to storm
1/3/2006

NEWS WALES

Castles were originally built to keep the hordes out. But visit a
castle in Wales in 2006 and you are more likely to be entertained by a troupe of travelling thespians than repelled by burning oil.

And to make castles accessible to even more people, Culture Minister Alun Pugh has announced that the Welsh Assembly Government is investing additional funds to make the country's monuments more accessible.


The Welsh Assembly Government historic environment service, Cadw, has drafted an Access Strategy for the 128 monuments in its care and Caernarfon Castle is at the top of the list for access improvements. "Caernarfon Castle is our flagship monument", the Minister said. "It regularly attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year - the most to any historic site in Wales. Yet the access to the castle is physically hard for many visitors and impossible for some".

The Welsh Assembly Government has given Cadw £185,000 to develop ideas for access and visitor facilities over the next two years. While precise detail of the works is being explored and will be subject to planning approval, the scheme will aim to provide ramped access into the castle, more extensive access to the upper wards within the castle and improved facilities.

Work continues to make all the historic monuments in the Assembly care as accessible as possible. "We are making access to sites a priority, although physical access to a small number is clearly going to be problematic for people with mobility difficulties and parents with children in buggies", Alun Pugh continued.

"Castles were built for defence, not access. There is much we can do, however, to make Welsh heritage intellectually accessible, through interpretation, publications and the use of modern technologies".

Providing events for a family audience is also part of attracting more visitors to CADW's monuments. For the first time this year, four of Cadw's monuments hosted a week of events during February half term. Despite the cold weather these proved a great draw with visitor figures showing an increase of 14% to the four sites compared with the same period last year.

For more information, visit www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.