ABOUT US
As an eleven-year-old child in 1996, Mark Baker passed the castle daily and found its destruction so appalling that he went on to found Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust at the age of 12. Following years of campaigning by the Trust, the castle’s American absentee owner sold it in 2006 to Clayton Hotels, which had ambitious plans to convert the buildings into a luxury hotel. Work began but was halted by the credit crunch, which also saw Clayton Hotels enter receivership.
In 2018, the castle and estate were purchased by Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust on behalf of the nation. This was made possible by grants and donations from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Heritage Memorial Fund, Richard Broyd Charitable Trust and other organisations, alongside generous public donations.
The castle went on to provide the UK home for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, introducing millions of viewers to this remarkable place.
One of the UK’s biggest heritage rescue projects
Gwrych Castle is now undergoing one of the biggest heritage rescue projects in the UK. Funded by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Richard Broyd Charitable Trust and other generous supporters, this major programme of conservation is tackling the damage caused by decades of neglect and securing the castle’s future.
The work includes urgent structural repairs and the reinstatement of permanent roofs and floors, protecting the castle’s surviving historic fabric from further deterioration. This is a crucial step towards restoring its historic rooms and bringing more of the building back into use, alongside the continuing restoration of the gardens and wider estate.
Gwrych Castle is open to the public during normal opening hours, offering visitors the opportunity to explore its history and see this remarkable rescue taking shape.
If you would like to visit us, pre-book your visit via the button below.
PLEASURE GARDENS RESTORATION PROJECT
The trust began the monumental task of rescuing the castle & estate over 20 years ago and will soon be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gwrych Castle Pleasure Gardens restoration project.
Chris Keeting is our Volunteering Coordinator and he has been working on the woodland walks restoration since 2002, he said: “The woodland walks were mostly impassable and pathways lost but we have painstakingly restored them from 2002 onwards and they have been maintained by staff and volunteers since.”
If you would like to volunteer for one of Britain’s biggest restoration & conservation projects, click here to find out more.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to secure a vibrant and sustainable future for Gwrych Castle and the built structures within its designed landscape, making them appealing, accessible, and inspiring places for new and existing audiences to visit, support, and enjoy, now and for years to come.
Celebrating the ideals of the picturesque movement in the early-nineteenth century – discovery, invention, and exploration – we will bring them vividly to life for our twenty-first century audiences through inspiring interpretation and activities that create fascinating links between house, landscape and people.
