Bodelwyddan Castle & Park

Lovely letter received today - thank you Jack ( and your mum ) it is very, very much appreciated, especially on my first day back in 2019 Hope that you can both come up and see the castle soon ! Lorraine xx

First day of 2019 here at Bodelwyddan Castle & Park and it’s a beautiful day. Our volunteer house guides Linda and Gillian are welcoming visitors and trench tours are running at 12 and 2 hosted by Jane. Access to the trench is by guided tour only.

We reopen tomorrow, Saturday 5th and look forward to welcoming our first visitors of 2019! We will be running trench tours at 12 and 2, hosted by Jane please book when you purchase your entrance ticket. Our Ww1 exhibition will be open, and our new 2019 addition is a WW1 memorial from a church in Old Colwyn. The adventure playground is undergoing extensive repairs so we request that our visitors please do not use the equipment until these are completed. Welcome to 2019 at Bodelwyddan Castle & Park!

We hope that all of our visitors and supporters have had a great Christmas and hope to see you all again in 2019. Our staff and volunteers are spending some long overdue time with family and friends this holiday but look forward to welcoming you when we reopen on January 5th. Please note that the adventure playground will remain be out of bounds whilst essential repairs are completed. Thank you and best wishes for the season and coming year.

A wonderful way to end the year here at Bodelwyddan Castle & Park ! We reopen in January - Merry Christmas from all of the staff and volunteers x

Fabulous Day today with Santa meeting his young visitors ! More photographs to follow!

Ticket sales for Father Christmas at the Castle close tonight and we now have single figure availability at 12 and 2 tomorrow in addition to 12 on Sunday. 2pm Sunday is sold out. Tickets via Eventbrite only, all children attending must have a Santa Special ticket. We will be closing for the holidays after Sunday and reopen in January. Looking forward to a great weekend and meeting all of Santa’s guests!

Santa’s elves are preparing for his young visitors this Saturday and Sunday! Could all parents attending please email lorraine.lister-bodcastle@outlook.co m with your child/ren’s name, age, gender and day and time of visit in order that he can check the present list for everyone on the nice list! Looking forward to meeting you all
Many thanks ... The Elvettes
See More

*** update *** 2pm on Sunday December 16 has now sold out. Remaining tickets are for Saturday 15th 12pm, Saturday 15th 2pm and Sunday 16th 12pm.
Father Christmas will be at Bodelwyddan Castle this Saturday and Sunday before returning to the North Pole to prepare for Christmas Eve.... All tickets must be prebooked via Eventbrite. Your Santa Special covers one child plus one adult, Christmas Crafts, Santa Stories, visit Father Christmas and receive a gift, plus a full day at Bodelwyddan Castle and Park. £10:08 per child plus one adult including all Eventbrite fees. We will also be holding a raffle each day to win a Private Trench Tour for up to 10 people - a perfect after Christmas gift! Tickets available to event attendees only and priced at £1 each, all proceeds to charity.
See More

Some of our young visitors today at Father Christmas at the Castle. Crafts, stories, presents, Santa - a perfect day.

Santa is coming to Bodelwyddan Castle and Park tomorrow, prebooked tickets only and sales end shortly - please note that due to the nature of the event we will not be selling tickets on the day. Very limited spaces left, booking via Eventbrite. Could all parents/accompanying adults please ‘check in’ to the visitor centre on arrival (through the portcullis and to your right). We will be offering a raffle on the day to win a private Trench Tour for up to ten people and our lovely #trenchteam have committed to doing this between Christmas and New Year. Tickets £1 each with all proceeds to charity. Tickets available in the Christmas Crafts Session. #makeadifference

Another great school group today as we host Ysgol Gellifor at the Trench Experience

Just three Santa Special tickets left now for 9th December at 2pm.Just three Santa Special tickets left now for 9th December at 2pm.

On Friday we welcomed Ysgol Llywelyn to Bodelwyddan Castle & Park for a WW1 Experience Day - access to our exhibition, research workshop, trench tour and Ww1 training game. Private George Gibbard 1/RWF was remembered at the Trench by the pupils.

*****SANTA 16/12 @2PM UPDATE***** Only 3 Santa Special tickets remain for this date and time slot - we will not be able to add on additional places once they are all filled so if this is your preferred date and time, please don’t miss out by delaying.*****SANTA 16/12 @2PM UPDATE***** Only 3 Santa Special tickets remain for this date and time slot - we will not be able to add on additional places once they are all filled so if this is your preferred date and time, please don’t miss out by delaying.

***further update**** Both December 9 events are now heading towards single figure Santa Special (1 adult 1 child ) availability. 5 Santa Special tickets for 2pm on 16/12 remain but we have had 7 enquiries so expect to announce sell out soon. We still have availability on Saturday 15th December at 12 & 2 plus Sunday 16th at 12 although this can quickly change.
... ****Update*** Only 5 Santa Special tickets for 2pm remain. Your ticket will cover access to Bodelwyddan Castle & Park all day for one adult and child (RRP £13) (including our outstanding WW1 exhibition), Santa Story Session, Christmas Crafts, Meet Santa & a gift for each child. Adults - the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket to win an exclusive private Trench Tour for up to 10 people (winner drawn on the day and tickets only available to attendees @ £1 each) Usual price £90
Only 7 Santa Special tickets remain for the 2pm event on 16th December here at the Castle. If this is your preferred date and time slot we would recommend booking soon as based on the past 48 hours this is likely to to sell out in the next few hours. To all those that have booked so far - #Santateam are looking forward to meeting you ! We have limited availability now on the 9th December (both time slots) Photo credit J Slater/L Lister
See More

At RWF museum Caernarfon today, as part of Kids in Museums with the next generation of #trenchteam members. Here remembering Private George Gibbard 1st Battalion RWF Kia 21 Oct 1914 pupils from Ysgol Brynsiencyn

Christmas 2017 at Bodelwyddan Castle & Park. Our 2018 Christmas events are now on sale via Eventbrite and it has been amazing to receive so many bookings from last year’s visitors! 2pm on 16th December now has single figure Santa Special tickets available and other dates are quickly catching up. Each Santa Special ticket covers one child and one adult. Full days admission to Bodelwyddan Castle & Park, Christmas Craft Session, Christmas Story Session, Meet Father Christmas ...and each child will receive a gift - £10:08 (including all Eventbrite fees) All adults at the event will have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win a one hour private Trench Tour for up to 10 people (value £90) with all proceeds to charity from the raffle going to charity. Entries will be £1 each, on the day. Photo credit J Slater/L Lister
See More

What an excellent day out for all ages. We were fortunate to have a sunny day to enjoy the grounds, views and gardens. We also rang up the day before to discover there was a volunteer to give a trench tour.

The ticket lady was lovely, we enjoyed walking around the grounds, coffee in one of the restaurants, then joined the tour guide, Jane, who was excellent.

The replica trenches were very good, very poignant experience, which I am sure children would enjoy too. Maybe consider a sound track running of gunfire, etc?

Had our picnic lunch on one of the many benches.

Then around the castle inside. Played and enjoyed the old fashioned toys despite all being over the age of 45!

An excellent day out all for the cost of just £7 each.





We love Bodelwyddan Castle and often visit the lovely spa for £7.50 each.

Went to the castle yesterday 29.6.17.had a brilliant day there with my wife.went on a tour of the trenches with a volenteer called Howard.what a really nice chap and so knowlegable.spent a good few hours looking round.great place to spend the day.the food in the cafe is lovely and all the staff where so friendly and helpful.we would like to thank the chap out of the offices who gave us the loan of an umberella, didnt catch his name, beard glasses but he was a star.would highly recommend Bodelwyddan castle to anybody who enjoys their history.great day out.

We were a party of five aged from 3 to 73 and there was something for everyone. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Plenty of play areas and places to have a picnic. Well done to the local council and staff for keeping the facility in such good condition and in public ownership.

We visited today (a family of 2 adults and 3 children aged between 12 and 6) and all really enjoyed it. We booked the WW1 guided tour of the trench system and our guide, Howard, was excellent, very knowledgeable and entertaining. The kids loved the adventure playground and maze and we all really enjoyed the Victorian games and illusions on the top floor. All in all a great day and well worth the money.

We visited the Castle today especially to check out the new WW1 bunker tour. Howard our tour guide was fantastic. His knowledge and enthusiasm made us feel like we were there when it happened. The new bunkers are very well made, it's exciting being able to explore them. The rest of the gardens as usual provided a lovely day outdoors. Loosing hours in the maze then a play in the park. Finished the day with a nice cup of tea in the Cafe. We will be back soon! Thanks to Howard for volunteering his time to do the tours, he's awesome!

We visited as part of a nostalgia trip. It is many years since I came here as a teenager. Roberta was a great guide to the trenches and made it an enjoyable day. The other lady guide in the castle whose name I don't know had so much time for us and was a fount of knowledge. We called for a quick visit and stayed until kicking out time. Thank you ladies for making our trip so enjoyable.

The food in the cafe was fresh and delicious too. Excellent work in the kitchen and well presented.

We had a lovely day here, we are on holiday from MK and my son was interested in the WW1 trenches. Lorraine especially opened it up for us, thank you so much, you have really driven his enthusiasm for history. My daughter was also entertained really well with the princesses and arts and crafts. We are really pleased we chose here for our day out....a lovely friendly place. Thank you. Michelle, Matt, Ethan and Lucy Paris.

We booked Santa as a last min as my mum ended up in hospital so we were visiting. Couldn't have timed it better with the snow forecast. It was beautiful. Santa experience and elves were fab! A Christmas story, Santa and gift then craft making. Crafts were so lovely and our elf was so friendly. Value for money, my little girl loved the castle and grounds, not to mention myself and husband. A true Christmas experience and it definitely made us feel Christmassy ❄️❄️👍👍

Visited on Sunday 11th June. Great fun and lots to do we were 2 kids 7 adults and there was plenty to keep us occupied. It was nice to be able to walk around the rooms and look at things without too much being roped off. Lots of interactive old fashioned games to play including Blackpool style funny mirrors to look at yourself in, dressing up clothes for adults and kids. Lovely gardens to walk around decent kids play area and really well kept grounds.

Sought refuge yesterday after being stuck with traffic on motorway at a stand still for over 4 hours. Roads closed and no where to go. We couldn't get home and our children had no lunch. We were all allowed in to use cafe and toilet without a charge, very charitable to allow people to do this without charging the castle entry fee. Unfortunately the cafe had ran out of food due to the massive increase in numbers which was obviously unexpected. We were just grateful to use the toilet and be able to buy a drink and an ice cream to keep us going until we got home.



Thank you Bodelwyddan castle xxx

Lovely day today lots to do and 5 happy children at the end of the day. Looking forward to your summer plans!

Lovely day out, messaged the page to enquire about the trench tour and the lovely Lorraine arranged it for us on her day off, our son is learning about WW1 at School, Jane was our lovely tour guide it was really interesting definitely worth visiting. The grounds are lovely and we will definitely return next year as the weather was a bit against us yesterday.The cafe was great as well we had a cream tea, we visited with 3 children aged 13, 10 and 3 and they all had a great time, they went in the maze and there were things to keep even little ones entertained in the castle.

I visited with my family on 8th August and had an excellent day. The gardens are lovely and the castle was interesting, but the main reason for our visit was the trench tour and it did not disappoint! The trenches were very impressive, with lots of interesting artifacts to look at. The highlight was our guide, Lorraine, who was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable telling us real life stories about the people who had served in the trenches. She managed to keep everyone interested from the younger children to the older ones, who had prior knowledge of trench warfare. I would recommend the tour to anyone interested in the 1st World war and wish them luck with the project.

I visited today with my husband and son and we came especially to see the World War Trench exhibition. We were really impressed - especially my son who has not stopped talking about all the amazing artefacts he got to see and touch! A great educational trip out in a beautiful place. We will be back again!

I visited today with my husband and 4 children (aged 15, 11, 10 and 1 years old). We arrived at 10:30am and didn't go home till around 3:30pm. For the entrance fee it's was brilliant value. This is the first castle that we have been allowed to walk around the rooms, normally other places have them roped off so you can stand on the edge to look. It was brilliant here as there were old toys to play with, dressing up areas and my 1 year old loved the wooden cakes and metal tea set she was allowed to play with in the 70's room. Then the garden was amazing. My sons did the quiz which went around the whole grounds which was fun and were invited to make a paper climbing solider. The tour around the trenches were brilliant, lots of information and a lot of time has been spent making it a great experience. It is such a friendly place and family friendly. All the staff/volunteers were chatty and friendly. Not everywhere is family family but this place was great.

Had a fab day out here yesterday, the staff were amazing, the fellas during den building were great with the kids (and adults) and special mention to Lorraine for her communication beforehand and how wonderful she was on the day. The house was fun and interesting for the children, the grounds were beautiful, in the afternoon we did den building which was great, really well organised and fun, ending with drinks and toasted marshmallows, this was followed by a tour of the ww1 trenches, which were amazing followed by a run around the original trenches, the playground and the maze! Spent a full day here and could've been much longer! Fab day out, great value for money.

Brilliant all round!

Staff are fabulous, friendly and very clean cafe and facilities, as a regular visitor I would definitely recommend this as a great day out!

Keep up the great work and good luck with renovations.

See you soon!

Beautiful place, magnificent gardens and the castle/house is amazing. I do hope that it doesn't lose it's majesty by incorporating too much modern exhibits. Staff really helpful and friendly. The cafe and afternoon tea is lovely.

Absolutely wonderful place. The staff are wonderful and the Trench exhibition was stunning. Lorraine the guide was knowledgeable friendly and I could have listened all day.

What an excellent day out for all ages. We were fortunate to have a sunny day to enjoy the grounds, views and gardens. We also rang up the day before to discover there was a volunteer to give a trench tour.

The ticket lady was lovely, we enjoyed walking around the grounds, coffee in one of the restaurants, then joined the tour guide, Jane, who was excellent.

The replica trenches were very good, very poignant experience, which I am sure children would enjoy too. Maybe consider a sound track running of gunfire, etc?

Had our picnic lunch on one of the many benches.

Then around the castle inside. Played and enjoyed the old fashioned toys despite all being over the age of 45!

An excellent day out all for the cost of just £7 each.





We love Bodelwyddan Castle and often visit the lovely spa for £7.50 each.

Went to the castle yesterday 29.6.17.had a brilliant day there with my wife.went on a tour of the trenches with a volenteer called Howard.what a really nice chap and so knowlegable.spent a good few hours looking round.great place to spend the day.the food in the cafe is lovely and all the staff where so friendly and helpful.we would like to thank the chap out of the offices who gave us the loan of an umberella, didnt catch his name, beard glasses but he was a star.would highly recommend Bodelwyddan castle to anybody who enjoys their history.great day out.

We were a party of five aged from 3 to 73 and there was something for everyone. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Plenty of play areas and places to have a picnic. Well done to the local council and staff for keeping the facility in such good condition and in public ownership.

We visited today (a family of 2 adults and 3 children aged between 12 and 6) and all really enjoyed it. We booked the WW1 guided tour of the trench system and our guide, Howard, was excellent, very knowledgeable and entertaining. The kids loved the adventure playground and maze and we all really enjoyed the Victorian games and illusions on the top floor. All in all a great day and well worth the money.

We visited the Castle today especially to check out the new WW1 bunker tour. Howard our tour guide was fantastic. His knowledge and enthusiasm made us feel like we were there when it happened. The new bunkers are very well made, it's exciting being able to explore them. The rest of the gardens as usual provided a lovely day outdoors. Loosing hours in the maze then a play in the park. Finished the day with a nice cup of tea in the Cafe. We will be back soon! Thanks to Howard for volunteering his time to do the tours, he's awesome!

We visited as part of a nostalgia trip. It is many years since I came here as a teenager. Roberta was a great guide to the trenches and made it an enjoyable day. The other lady guide in the castle whose name I don't know had so much time for us and was a fount of knowledge. We called for a quick visit and stayed until kicking out time. Thank you ladies for making our trip so enjoyable.

The food in the cafe was fresh and delicious too. Excellent work in the kitchen and well presented.

We had a lovely day here, we are on holiday from MK and my son was interested in the WW1 trenches. Lorraine especially opened it up for us, thank you so much, you have really driven his enthusiasm for history. My daughter was also entertained really well with the princesses and arts and crafts. We are really pleased we chose here for our day out....a lovely friendly place. Thank you. Michelle, Matt, Ethan and Lucy Paris.

We booked Santa as a last min as my mum ended up in hospital so we were visiting. Couldn't have timed it better with the snow forecast. It was beautiful. Santa experience and elves were fab! A Christmas story, Santa and gift then craft making. Crafts were so lovely and our elf was so friendly. Value for money, my little girl loved the castle and grounds, not to mention myself and husband. A true Christmas experience and it definitely made us feel Christmassy ❄️❄️👍👍

Visited on Sunday 11th June. Great fun and lots to do we were 2 kids 7 adults and there was plenty to keep us occupied. It was nice to be able to walk around the rooms and look at things without too much being roped off. Lots of interactive old fashioned games to play including Blackpool style funny mirrors to look at yourself in, dressing up clothes for adults and kids. Lovely gardens to walk around decent kids play area and really well kept grounds.

Sought refuge yesterday after being stuck with traffic on motorway at a stand still for over 4 hours. Roads closed and no where to go. We couldn't get home and our children had no lunch. We were all allowed in to use cafe and toilet without a charge, very charitable to allow people to do this without charging the castle entry fee. Unfortunately the cafe had ran out of food due to the massive increase in numbers which was obviously unexpected. We were just grateful to use the toilet and be able to buy a drink and an ice cream to keep us going until we got home.



Thank you Bodelwyddan castle xxx

Lovely day today lots to do and 5 happy children at the end of the day. Looking forward to your summer plans!

Lovely day out, messaged the page to enquire about the trench tour and the lovely Lorraine arranged it for us on her day off, our son is learning about WW1 at School, Jane was our lovely tour guide it was really interesting definitely worth visiting. The grounds are lovely and we will definitely return next year as the weather was a bit against us yesterday.The cafe was great as well we had a cream tea, we visited with 3 children aged 13, 10 and 3 and they all had a great time, they went in the maze and there were things to keep even little ones entertained in the castle.

I visited with my family on 8th August and had an excellent day. The gardens are lovely and the castle was interesting, but the main reason for our visit was the trench tour and it did not disappoint! The trenches were very impressive, with lots of interesting artifacts to look at. The highlight was our guide, Lorraine, who was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable telling us real life stories about the people who had served in the trenches. She managed to keep everyone interested from the younger children to the older ones, who had prior knowledge of trench warfare. I would recommend the tour to anyone interested in the 1st World war and wish them luck with the project.

I visited today with my husband and son and we came especially to see the World War Trench exhibition. We were really impressed - especially my son who has not stopped talking about all the amazing artefacts he got to see and touch! A great educational trip out in a beautiful place. We will be back again!

I visited today with my husband and 4 children (aged 15, 11, 10 and 1 years old). We arrived at 10:30am and didn't go home till around 3:30pm. For the entrance fee it's was brilliant value. This is the first castle that we have been allowed to walk around the rooms, normally other places have them roped off so you can stand on the edge to look. It was brilliant here as there were old toys to play with, dressing up areas and my 1 year old loved the wooden cakes and metal tea set she was allowed to play with in the 70's room. Then the garden was amazing. My sons did the quiz which went around the whole grounds which was fun and were invited to make a paper climbing solider. The tour around the trenches were brilliant, lots of information and a lot of time has been spent making it a great experience. It is such a friendly place and family friendly. All the staff/volunteers were chatty and friendly. Not everywhere is family family but this place was great.

Had a fab day out here yesterday, the staff were amazing, the fellas during den building were great with the kids (and adults) and special mention to Lorraine for her communication beforehand and how wonderful she was on the day. The house was fun and interesting for the children, the grounds were beautiful, in the afternoon we did den building which was great, really well organised and fun, ending with drinks and toasted marshmallows, this was followed by a tour of the ww1 trenches, which were amazing followed by a run around the original trenches, the playground and the maze! Spent a full day here and could've been much longer! Fab day out, great value for money.

Brilliant all round!

Staff are fabulous, friendly and very clean cafe and facilities, as a regular visitor I would definitely recommend this as a great day out!

Keep up the great work and good luck with renovations.

See you soon!

Beautiful place, magnificent gardens and the castle/house is amazing. I do hope that it doesn't lose it's majesty by incorporating too much modern exhibits. Staff really helpful and friendly. The cafe and afternoon tea is lovely.

Absolutely wonderful place. The staff are wonderful and the Trench exhibition was stunning. Lorraine the guide was knowledgeable friendly and I could have listened all day.