Castell Henllys Interpretation Plan Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority Red Kite Environment Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants Anglezarke Dixon Associates April 2013 Castell Henllys Interpretation Plan ______________________________________________ Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority In association with Red Kite Environment Pearcroft Pearcroft Road Stonehouse Gloucestershire GL10 2JY Tel: 01453 822013 Fax: 01453 791969 Email: [email protected] www.redkite-environment.co.uk Castell Henllys Interpretation Plan Contents Contents.................................................................................................... i Foreword ..................................................................................................iii Executive summary.................................................................................. v 1 Introduction............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................2 1.2 The ‘Origins’ project........................................................................................................3 2 Setting the Scene.................................................................................. 4 2.1 Historical contexts ..........................................................................................................5 2.2 A prehistory hub .............................................................................................................6 3 Castell Henllys....................................................................................... 8 3.1 Site description ...............................................................................................................9 3.2 Biodiversity ...................................................................................................................10 3.3 The site today ...............................................................................................................11 3.4 How the site is used .....................................................................................................11 4 Findings............................................................................................... 12 4.1 Consultation..................................................................................................................13 4.2 Other issues from consultation .....................................................................................15 4.3 Our impressions of the site...........................................................................................17 4.4 Castell Henllys – a tool for sustainable heritage tourism?............................................18 5 Audiences and markets....................................................................... 24 5.1 Visitor survey ................................................................................................................25 5.2 The tourism market.......................................................................................................25 5.3 Current audiences ........................................................................................................26 5.4 Target audiences..........................................................................................................27 5.5 Audience development .................................................................................................28 6 Objectives............................................................................................ 31 6.1 Management objectives................................................................................................32 6.2 Interpretive objectives...................................................................................................33 6.3 Issues arising from the interpretive objectives..............................................................34 7 Topics, themes and storylines............................................................. 36 i Red Kite Environment Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants Anglezarke Dixon Associates March 2013 Castell Henllys Interpretation Plan 7.1 Topics ...........................................................................................................................37 7.2 Themes.........................................................................................................................39 8 Delivering the visitor experience ......................................................... 41 8.1 Proposed visitor facilities ..............................................................................................42 8.2 Marketing profile of Castell Henllys ..............................................................................42 8.3 Component elements of the visitor experience ............................................................42 8.4 Options appraisal..........................................................................................................43 8.5 Use of the site as an interpretive hub ...........................................................................47 8.6 Flow of visitors through the site – with optional routes .................................................48 9 The visitor experience in detail............................................................ 50 9.1 Pre-visit facilities / activities ..........................................................................................51 9.2 Welcome facilities.........................................................................................................52 9.3 Visitor Centre................................................................................................................53 9.4 Pay perimeter – introduction.........................................................................................56 9.5 Pay perimeter – hillfort experience ...............................................................................58 9.6 Other media / facilities ..................................................................................................61 9.7 Preliminary interpretive design concepts......................................................................63 9.8 Delivering the tourism component ................................................................................74 10 Cost assumptions.............................................................................. 76 10.1 Costs table..................................................................................................................77 11 Monitoring and evaluation ................................................................. 80 11.1 The need for monitoring and evaluation .....................................................................81 11.2 Pre-testing ..................................................................................................................81 11.3 Monitoring...................................................................................................................82 11.4 Evaluation...................................................................................................................82 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................. 84 Options appraisal................................................................................................................84 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................. 89 Consultees we contacted ...................................................................................................89 Consultees who responded ................................................................................................89 Appendix 3 ............................................................................................. 91 Bibliography........................................................................................................................91 Appendix 4 ............................................................................................. 92 Relevant strategic documents ............................................................................................92 ii Red Kite Environment Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants Anglezarke Dixon Associates March 2013 Castell Henllys Interpretation Plan Foreword Castell Henllys is a unique – and memorable – place. Its recreated Iron Age roundhouses appeal immensely to visitors who are immediately drawn to discovering what is inside the buildings. There is no other site in the UK where people can see so clearly and evocatively the type of homes ‘their’ ancestors lived in two thousand years ago and enjoy the surrounding landscape that provided the Iron Age community’s subsistence. The location of the roundhouses on their original foundations adds considerably to the site’s attraction even if this approach to reconstruction is now frowned upon by conservation bodies. Castell Henllys helps everyone to understand the challenges and benefits, advantages and disadvantages, of living in such a fashion. Most importantly it shows how similar Iron Age people were to ourselves, rather than how different, and how their daily lives resembled our own in surprisingly many ways. This reality lies at the heart of the story which interpreters tell on-site and encompasses