Gwrych Castle

✨ Swipe right to see what’s on this summer at Gwrych Castle! 👉🏰

From wildlife encounters and children’s crafts to movie days, Punch & Judy shows and traditional games every day, there’s something new to enjoy all summer long.

Don’t miss our special events, medieval festival, Sips & Sounds, Castle Carnival and so much more.

https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/events/

Which day are you joining us? 🌿☀️

🚨 We’re Hiring – CIC Operations Manager 🚨

We’re looking for a motivated, organised and hands-on Operations Manager to help oversee the day-to-day running of Gwrych Castle’s trading operations.

📍 Gwrych Castle, Abergele
⏰ Part-time (28 hours per week average)
📅 6-month fixed-term contract (with potential to extend)
📧 Apply by sending your CV to [email protected]
🗓 Closing date: Friday 7th August, 5pm

If you have management experience, enjoy leading teams and thrive in a varied role spanning events, retail, hospitality and visitor operations, we’d love to hear from you.

For the full job description and person specification, see the advert below.

https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/jobs/

🛡️ An itinerary of Main Events, and there’s so much more to enjoy throughout the Gwrych Castle Medieval Festival!

Take time to explore the castle, enjoy family activities, crafts, chainsaw displays as well as grab some food and soak up the atmosphere between shows 🛡️

Medieval Festival August 15th & 16th
🛡️ An itinerary of Main Events, and there’s so much more to enjoy throughout the Gwrych Castle Medieval Festival!

Take time to explore the castle, enjoy family activities, crafts, chainsaw displays as well as grab some food and soak up the atmosphere between shows 🛡️

🎟️ Full and 1/2 day tickets available at https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/medieval-festival/
🔥 Don’t forget to reserve your space at the medieval feast at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/118771
🎟️ Full and 1/2 day tickets available at https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/medieval-festival/
🔥 Don’t forget to reserve your space at the medieval feast at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/118771

Restoring the Library Windows at Gwrych Castle 🏰

One of the most exciting parts of our restoration is the reinstatement of the magnificent Library windows.

Designed in the 1820s by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford Hesketh, these extraordinary Gothic windows were a defining feature of one of the castle’s finest rooms. Their stained glass was just as remarkable. The two main windows each contained eight tracery lights, while the side windows each had six. Every tracery light featured an orange background with a white hexafoil rose above a white swag of flowing leaves and tendrils, filling the Library with rich colour and light.

The windows were so admired that, in 1914, architect Detmar Blow carefully drew the Library shutters for Winifred, Countess of Dundonald, recording details of the room that are now helping us to understand and restore this important interior.

After decades of loss and decay, these windows are finally returning. Using surviving evidence, historic drawings and traditional craftsmanship, we are recreating them as faithfully as possible, completing the restoration of the Library following the repair of its floor and roof.

We are incredibly grateful to the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the for making this important stage of the restoration possible. Their support is helping to bring one of Britain’s finest Gothic Revival interiors back to life for everyone to enjoy.

Every window we restore is another piece of Gwrych Castle’s story returned.

🎶🍻 Summer evenings don’t get better than this…

Join us for Sips & Sounds at Gwrych Castle and enjoy live music from Archie Horan, From timeless classics to feel good anthems, Archie performs hits from The Beatles, Oasis, Elvis, Bob Marley, Tiffany, Bobby Brown, alongside Soul, Motown and Reggae, creating the perfect soundtrack for a summer evening. Enjoy breathtaking sunset views, a complimentary welcome drink, local Conwy Brewery beers, cocktails and bar snacks in one of Wales’ most iconic settings.

Bring your friends, grab a drink, and soak up the atmosphere. 🌅✨

📅 7th August
🕢 From 7:30pm
🎟️ £5 admission (includes a welcome drink)
https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/117548?embed

✨🏰 The castle is full of magic today! 👑

⚔️ Our brave Castle Knight is ready to welcome every prince, princess and knight through the gates!

🌊 Princess of the Sea – Magical Wishes
🌹 Princess of the Rose – Dancing & Princess Lessons
🏰 Princess of the Tower – Live Singing

💃 Royal Group Dances & Photos at 12pm and 1pm!

Come dressed as your favourite royal and make memories you’ll never forget. ✨💖

Tag your little prince or princess and we’ll see you at the castle! 👑🏰

🏰 Restoration Update ✨

Work has now moved into the first-floor bedrooms, including the magnificent Rhuddlan Suite, the Principal Bedrooms, the Picture Gallery, and the Round Tower.

New structural steelwork has been installed throughout these spaces, with steel decking now in place to form the permanent base for the new concrete floors. In the Round Tower, new timber floor joists are also being installed, while in the ground-floor dining room our stonemasons are carefully rebuilding the masonry around the newly installed steel frame.

This is a significant milestone, as these are some of the castle’s most important historic interiors, and the installation of new floors is bringing them back to life for the first time in decades.

Did you know? In 1914, the Countess of Dundonald commissioned the same steelwork company that built the iconic Forth Bridge to undertake major structural works at Gwrych Castle. Working with her architect, Detmar Blow, she also made extensive use of reinforced concrete throughout parts of the castle—an innovative construction method at the time that helped strengthen and modernise the building.

More than a century later, we’re continuing that tradition of combining modern engineering with traditional craftsmanship to secure Gwrych Castle’s future.

Every beam installed, every stone rebuilt and every floor recreated brings us one step closer to reopening more of this remarkable building for future generations. 💛

✨🏰 A little magic awaits at Gwrych Castle today… 👑💫

Our princesses can’t wait to meet you!

⚔️ Our brave Castle Knight will be standing proudly to welcome every prince, princess and knight!

🌊 The Princess of the Sea is granting magical wishes and sharing enchanting moments full of ocean magic.

🌹 The Princess of the Rose is hosting royal dancing and princess lessons, teaching little princes and princesses how to twirl, curtsy and shine.

🏰 The Princess of the Tower will be filling the castle with beautiful songs in a magical singalong.

✨ Don’t miss our Royal Group Dance & Meet and Greet at 12:00pm and 1:00pm, where all of our royal guests will come together for magical dancing, unforgettable photos and memories to last a lifetime! 📸💖

Dust off your crowns, polish your armour and step into a real life fairytale at Gwrych Castle today. Magic is waiting around every corner… ✨

👑 We can’t wait to welcome all of our princes, princesses and knights to the castle! Tag someone who’d love a magical day out. 💫

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/117948?embed

Music was an important part of life at Gwrych Castle.

The Countess of Dundonald believed strongly in encouraging young musicians and was a passionate supporter of both Welsh music and the Welsh language. In recognition of her contribution to Welsh culture, she was admitted to the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod in 1910.

Her support went far beyond the castle gates. She donated medals and prizes for music competitions, including the Countess of Dundonald Medal, awarded to outstanding pupils in the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music Local Centre Examinations. One surviving medal was presented in 1915 to harpist Emelie Roberts.

Music was a regular feature of life at Gwrych. Welsh male voice choirs performed at the castle, local schoolchildren sang traditional Welsh songs during celebrations, and concerts and dances brought together guests and the local community. During Lord Cochrane’s coming-of-age celebrations in 1907, the Countess invited a Welsh male voice choir to perform at the castle and hundreds of local children took part in the festivities, singing Welsh melodies through the streets of Abergele.

The Countess understood that music was more than entertainment. It was a way of supporting young people, celebrating Welsh culture and bringing the community together: a legacy that still forms part of Gwrych Castle’s story today.