ABOUT US
As an eleven year-old child in 1996, Mark Baker passed the castle daily and found the destruction so appalling that he went on to found the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust at the age of 12. The Trust forced the American absentee owner to sell the castle in 2006 to Clayton Hotels, who had ambitious plans to convert the buildings into a luxury hotel. Work began but was halted by the credit crunch which also sadly saw Clayton Hotels enter receivership.
In 2018, the castle and estate was purchased by Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, on behalf of the nation. This was made possible by a range of grants and donations from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Heritage Memorial Fund, Richard Broyd Charitable Trust and other organisations, including public donations.
Work is underway to restore the castle and estate, as well as providing a UK home to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Gwrych Castle is open to the public everyday during normal opening hours. 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.
Take a look at our plans for the Phase 1 Shell Repair project below.
