Two brand-new attractions have been officially unveiled at Caerphilly Castle.
‘Gilbert’s Maze’ and the ‘Dragons’ Lair’ were officially opened by Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, and are part of a £570,000 project aiming to improve the visitor experience at Wales’ largest castle.
They are a part of Cadw’s ‘Castles Alive’ campaign, which includes a £9.5 million Welsh Government investment over the next three years to Cadw sites throughout Wales.
‘Gilbert’s Maze’, which was designed by Theme3, is an interactive maze that replicates the layout of Caerphilly Castle. Highlighting the castle’s unique defence system, the maze also encourages visitors to navigate its passageways and interact with weapons from the past.
The well known Cadw Dragons, who made their first appearance in Caerphilly before touring Cadw’s sites throughout Wales, now have a permanent home at the castle. The ‘Dragon’s Lair’ is located in the shadow of the leaning tower, and tells the story of the dragons, complete with an audio-visual display that includes a bilingual narrative and smoke.
Gwilym Hughes, Director of Cadw, explained that the plans are part of a strategy to attract new, more diverse audiences to sites like Caerphilly.
He told Caerphilly Observer: “We need to break down barriers and attract new and diverse audiences. Wales has a complex history, with a lot of stories. We have to make sure these stories are being told by providing authentic interpretation, which we now have here in abundance.
“This is only the start, we have to continue to work with local authorities, Welsh Government, Visit Wales and community groups to ensure we continue to improve sites like this in Wales.”
Money spent in Wales by overseas tourists dropped by 17% over the last year, and the Welsh Government has received criticism after it spent £5 million on its ‘Year of Legends’ campaign aimed at boosting Wales’ tourism numbers.
There were 730,473 visitors to Cadw’s top castle sites last year, up 10% on the previous year, yet money spent by overseas visitors has failed to keep up with the increases experienced in England and Scotland.
Asked if the new £9.5 million investments is expected to increase the number of tourists coming to Caerphilly and Wales, Lord Elis-Thomas told the Caerphilly Observer: “We don’t do targets. Instead we look at our investment opportunities and we invest in order to emphasise the attractiveness of the Wales’ landscape, its events and distinctiveness of our heritage.”