Castle Trust puts visitor attraction lease up for sale

The trustees of popular visitor attraction Bodelwyddan Castle in North Wales have put the 125-year lease they hold on a large part of the property up for sale.

Bodelwyddan Castle Trust (BCT), which runs the castle, museum and art gallery near Rhyl, wants to use the money it will raise to continue its public education role and allow access to its precious collection of Welsh art by linking to a charity with a similar ethos.

The decision to sell the remaining 99 years of the lease to the highest bidder and close in 2019 follows the withdrawal of a £144,000 support grant from Denbighshire County Council.

The funding cut, which was applied from April 2018, resulted in the loss of seven of the trust’s 13 staff and the ending of a long loan of 130 paintings from the National Portrait Gallery (NPG).

Some of BCT’s own paintings were then hung on the walls to replace works which were returned to the NPG.

Set in 260 acres, the castle dates from before 1460, but was renovated in the 1830s by the Williams family, and is now also occupied by the Bourne Leisure-owned Warner hotel.

After its use by the Army in the First World War, the house was sold by the fifth Baronet and became a private girls’ school, Lowther College, from 1920 to 1982.

Ironically, the council funding cut followed soon after the introduction of tours of replica trenches from the Great War and an exhibition ‘From Civilian to Combatant’, telling the story of local men and women who were involved, and proved highly popular with visitors.

Chair of the trust, Dr Helen Papworth, said: “In the three years that I have been a trustee I have seen the impact of costs savings which resulted in the removal of the National Portrait Gallery collection in February, 2017, with the loss of a significant number of employees.

“Despite the financial pressures, the remaining core of loyal staff and volunteers have created a range of exhibitions of Welsh art and, to complement the tours through replica trenches in the grounds, the World War One exhibition.

“The beautifully-maintained parkland and woods have attracted many people who come to enjoy the different events, such as theatre and displays, or to observe the local wildlife in tranquil surrounds.

“We believe that the sale of the lease will enable our resources to be used for similar charitable purposes, providing visitors to North Wales, and local people, with continued access to the collection of Welsh artworks stored at the castle.”

She added that the sale of the lease will enable the trust to invest its assets in another charitable organisation, one with similar objectives, while offering the purchaser the opportunity to develop the property over a “substantial period of time”, possibly providing local employment and “a new potential resource within the region”.

Lambert Smith Hampton director Colin Jennings, who is advising the trust on the sale, said: “Whilst its clearly disappointing to see the closure of Bodelwydden Castle, its sale will provide a unique opportunity for a purchaser to develop this prominent listed building into an alternative tourist attraction to complement the recent investments in nearby centres along the A55.

“Alternatively, the property could be converted back to residential or educational use, or as a conference centre.”