£5m plans for Caerphilly Castle

Cadw today, Thursday, June 17, announced £5 million of their £9.5 million funding from the Welsh Government will be spent on conservation and transformation of Caerphilly Castle – Wales’ largest castle.

Speaking at the castle this afternoon, Dawn Bowden, deputy minister for culture and sport, said: “I am absolutely delighted. This is a great investment by the Welsh Government for a major heritage site in Wales. Currently the castle has around 100,000 visitors a year and we want to double or triple that.

“What is proposed really should end up being a 'must go' to for people coming to Wales and also those living here.

“£5 million is a huge chunk of the budget but I think it’s going to be a worthwhile investment. We saw Caerphilly Castle as a priority as it is one of the most significant heritage sites in Wales.”

Ms Bowden also believes that the works on the castle will have a positive effect on the wider town itself. “Caerphilly is known for its castle and that is what attracts many people to the town. The more people we attract to the town, the better it is for the economy.

“There is an outstanding plan for the town centre and that with the work going on in the castle could be a huge boost to the town.”

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Gwilym Hughes, head of Cadw, Dr Kate Roberts, Cadw's chief inspector of ancient monuments, Dawn Bowden MS, deputy minister for culture and sport and CCBC leader Cllr Philippa Marsden visit Caerphilly Castle to announce £5m funding for conservation and transformation work

How will the funds be spent?

Chief inspector of ancient monuments at Cadw, Dr Kate Roberts, was also on site to provide information relating to how the funds will be spent – and revealed some ambitious plans.

Dr Roberts said: “A lot of money - £1 million – is being spent on interpreting life in the castle – more than we have spent on any others.

“We are looking at bringing the castle to life and using a combination of dressing up the rooms with medieval items like wall hangings and fabrics as well as digital projection and hand-held devices.

Dawn Bowden MS, deputy minister for culture and sport and Gwilym Hughes, head of Cadw visit Caerphilly Castle to announce £5m funding for conservation and transformation work

“We have some on a smaller scale already at Castell Coch where people can look at handheld devices and see parts of the history. We are also looking at the possibility of having some forms of VR too.

“We are also thinking of trying to get digital enhancement for the siege engines so it looks like they are firing, but if we can’t do that, we do have footage of them firing which we could use in a video format.”

“What I’m most excited about is bringing the stories of the people who built and lived in the castle to life.”

Dr Roberts believes that these features will allow for a better and more immersive experience for visitors.

Dawn Bowden MS, deputy minister for culture and sport and Gwilym Hughes, head of Cadw visit Caerphilly Castle to announce £5m funding for conservation and transformation work

There will also be a new and improved visitor centre complete with a café. Work is currently ongoing by Wessex Archaeology to excavate the area where the centre will be to ensure that there are no historical artefacts or findings that would be built on or damaged by the work.

“We have already done some local geophysics on the site, and it did not indicate anything,” said Dr Roberts. “But we thought we would excavate anyway to make sure that nothing was missed. So far, we haven’t found anything which means that the plans can go ahead.”

Conservation work is also going to be continuing – with a number of smaller projects. “Conservation work is constant; it has to be with a castle this size. We have our own masons, and they are doing a lot of work across the castle. We are going to upgrade the whole site.”

The site where the new visitor centre is to be built at Caerphilly Castle is currently being excavated to ensure there are no significant artefacts

She also confirmed that the work – which will begin from August – will be done with the castle still open to visitors. “We hope to keep the castle open to visitors during this work, however, there will be some parts when we may have to close a section of the castle to allow for work to be completed – for example with bridges and stairs – safely and not put any visitors at risk. But the castle will not be closed completely.”

You can find out more about Caerphilly Castle and the work Cadw do by visiting https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/caerphilly-castle