A dragons’ lair and an interactive maze are among plans to turn Caerphilly Castle into a “major UK tourist attraction”.
The Welsh Government’s historic environment service Cadw, announced the ambitious proposals as part of a wider £9.5 million scheme to improve several of its sites.
The immediate plans for Caerphilly Castle, which attracted record visitor numbers in 2016 and 2017, include an interactive maze, a dragons’ lair complete with audio-visual effects, and regular live firings of the medieval siege engines.
The planned attractions coincide with the castle’s 750th anniversary year.
Designed by specialists behind top attractions such as The London Dungeon, Warwick Castle and Madame Tussauds, Caerphilly’s ‘Gilbert’s Maze’ will invite visitors to ‘break through its defences’ and ‘capture’ Gilbert De Clare’s castle without getting caught.
There will be secret passageways, interactive obstacles, and photo opportunities for visitors to enjoy along the way.
Meanwhile, a permanent home will be created for Cadw’s much-loved family of dragons, which pulled in more than half a million visitors to the site last summer.
Visitors will get the chance to hear their epic tale, narrated by actor Gareth Potter who has featured in the likes of Hinterland and Torchwood, choreographed to an audio-visual display and set in the shadows of Caerphilly Castle’s iconic leaning tower.
Finally, after months of restoration and training a team in medieval warfare, visitors can expect to see regular live shows where 12th Century-inspired siege engines will catapult ammunition high above the castle grounds, travelling an impressive 150ft across the spectacular medieval backdrop into the surrounding moat.
It is hoped the new attractions will be in place at Caerphilly Castle by the summer complemented by an “action-packed” events programme.
Cadw revealed the plans for Caerphilly Castle as part of the launch for its Castles Alive! campaign, which will see a further £9.5 million invested over three years to enhance the visitor experience at Cadw’s top sites.
Minister for Culture and Tourism, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, said: “In 2017, Cadw generated £4.4m in admissions revenue — an increase of almost 20% on the previous year. It’s vital that we continue to invest in our sites to further improve the visitor experience and strengthen their role in Wales’ tourism offer.
“Caerphilly Castle in particular has seen noteworthy visitor growth in recent years, with visitors flocking to the site due to a combination of innovative attractions, events and installations.
“I’m confident that these innovative, new features will help to cement this impressive monument’s position as a top-class tourism attraction.”
The plans have been well received by local businesses.
Oliver Wild, Manager of Roberts Estate Agents in Caerphilly, added: “This is great news for the town.
“There was a flurry of interest in Caerphilly the first time the dragon appeared, so there’s clearly huge potential to transform the Castle into a major tourist attraction, which in turn, will benefit local businesses.”
Better late than never ! – the castle has been there since Norman times and only now they decide to make it a major tourist attraction !
They should have promoted it more many years ago……it should have bern a living museum like Llancaich Fawr Monor House, with staff in period costume.
It is a wondrrful asset for tourism but we do mot promote tourism well enough.
Where did the Green Lady go.
Did she retire, some one told me she left when Caerphilly started to die.
I think she walked out because caerphilly council didn’t give her a illegal £50k pay rise for working 16 hours a week.
And her travel expenses was to low and her child care stopped.