The Innocastle study visit in Wales, that took place in May 2019, shed some light onto local models of managing historic castles and estates, and brought up good practices that partners can take back into their own regions. These were illustrated in a series of drawings. Check them out below:
From volunteering to visiteering
Societal changes are affecting people’s ability and willingness to volunteer. Historic country estates are therefore developing more flexible volunteering offers. The Innocastle team liked the idea of ‘visiteering’ illustrated by the National Trust at Croft Castle. Visiteering is a way to involve people, as part of a regular visit, in a volunteering activity such as cleaning items from the collection. Finding out more about the work of the house team, seeing behind the scenes and participating in vital conservation work is a good way of building engagement. More...
The business of heritage
One of the big challenges for historic country estates is making them financially sustainable. At Eastnor Castle, Innocastle partners heard many examples of business development and different sources of income. They were particularly struck by the idea that dogs were welcome inside the house! There were also very interesting discussions about the three-way relationship between heritage conservation, making money and community engagement. More...
Working in partnership
People think about heritage in different ways. Government authorities, heritage experts, owners and communities can all have different reasons for wanting to maintain and develop historic country estates. At Hay Castle, Innocastle partners heard that official procedures can sometimes hamper a project’s progress. They agreed that working in partnership was essential but that sometimes stakeholders would need to compromise or take a more pragmatic approach. More...
Heritage is not stuck in the past
The Innocastle partners are all interested in spatial design and readying historic country estates for an influx of visitors. The visit to Powis Castle included discussions about car parking and transport planning. Sometimes the establishment of retail, catering or other facilities can be contentious and there can be a mismatch between historic authenticity and providing for a comfortable 21st century visit. More...
