Caerphilly Castle is one of 23 sites across Wales that people can visit for free this weekend as part of a campaign that encourages the public to explore Welsh history.
Cadw and the Welsh Government are giving away 10,000 free tickets to their heritage sites on Saturday September 27 and Sunday September 28 as part of their Open Doors campaign.
The new Deputy Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Ken Skates, launched the giveaway at Caerphilly Castle today, September 23.
He said: “Open Doors is crucial to introduce people who’ve not yet visited a historical site to have access to some of the most fantastic heritage anywhere on the planet.”
Despite Caerphilly Castle being among the top ten paid attractions in Wales, visitor number are down, but Mr Skates said the number day visitors to Wales rose by 20% in the last five months.
He said: “Our strategy is winning and paying enormous dividends. That said, we are ambitious and want to see as many people as possible come through the doors of our historic sites.”
The new Chief Executive of Cadw, Kate Clark was also at the launch, having begun her role on September 8.
Ms Clark, originally an industrial archaeologist, has 25 years experience in museums and heritage, most recently in New South Wales, Australia.
She said: “I’ve worked in both heritage and museums and Cadw is about dual roles.
“We have a pan Wales heritage role across 129 sites and we have a fantastic Heritage Tourism Project and Caerphilly is part of that investment with our partners in heritage sites across Wales.
“These sites are not just rock and pieces of earth, there are extraordinary stories behind them. Open Doors is about opening up these Heritage sites. I was in Cathays Park Cemetry on the weekend and Open Doors is not just about the big sites but parks and churches as well.”
Ms Clarke stressed that as well as the heritage value of their sites, there is a large economic and community value.
Cadw currently has 13,000 memberships, the highest since 2007, and a recent survey showed 61% of tourists to Wales site heritage as a reason for their visit.
Meanwhile more than 2,300 schoolchildren visited Caerphilly Castle in the last academic year as part of Cadw’s free education programme for schools.
Pupils from Cwm Primary School in Pontypridd were also at the Castle for an educational visit.
Open Doors has seen hundreds of historic sites offer free access to visitors throughout September, as well as opening up many historic sites that are usually closed to the public.
For more information and to register for free tickets visit cadw.wales.gov.uk/opendoors.
The problem with the castle is its uninteresting nature and it’s falling apart state. Walking around the castle hardly excites people. The castle should be rebuilt to how it should be before it’s partial destruction, and interactive activities installed to grab interest. Have live firing demonstrations of the weapons into the moat too.
Dean, far be it for me to defend CADW but they do regularly have live shootings of the heavy weapons. Also the castle has been extensively rebuilt, not by CADW but by a former owner, the Marquis of Bute.
Eminent local historian and castle expert, John Owen, has said to me he wished it had not been rebuilt as in many ways it was more interesting as a ruin. I do have sympathy with his view but we have to deal with what we have been handed down.
For me the castle is very interesting and is the finest, biggest example of a concentric fortification to be found anywhere in Europe. What I would like to see is better use of the castle as a setting for markets and fairs to conjure up the past history of our town and promote a castle which surpasses other fortifications in Wales such as Beaumaris and Harlech.