Bodelwyddan Castle

Bodelwyddan Castle has over 500 years of history to discover. We are an independant charitable trust and a regional partner of the National Portrait Gallery with a mixture of UK and National Collections to discover. Our free, state of the art multimedia guides will take you on a fascinating journey through this historic house and will bring its stories and characters to life.

Explorer buckets at the ready! We are a family friendly heritage attraction, and children are encouraged to explore with a variety of hands-on activities and quizzes. Also located within the Castle is a Victorian Toys & Games Room and the opportunity to dress up in the finest Victorian clothing, take your own photograph in our Silvy studio, add the finishing touches and email your photograph home for free.

Schools

Bodelwyddan Castle welcomes visits from schools, colleges and other groups on any day of the week throughout the year, by prior arrangement.

We offer workshops and tours led by artists and museum educators that last up to one hour and 45 minutes and include practical activities. All activities are cross-curricular, age appropriate and are designed to engage different learning styles.

Free resources and interactive galleries are available for self-guided visits.

CPD sessions for teachers are available on request.

What is there to see and do?

Bodelwyddan Castle was once a Victorian family home. It is now run by an independent charitable trust as a museum, gallery and country park.

We are a partner of the National Portrait Gallery with over 100 portraits of people from the nineteenth century displayed in beautiful period rooms.

• We have hands-on galleries for you to discover and play.
• Dedicated education room.
• Special art exhibitions all year.
• 40 acres of grounds for you to explore, including a deer park, rare World War 1 practice trenches, woodland walks, bird hide, orchard, maze, aviary, and formal gardens.
• Adventure play area (suitable for pre-school up to 14 years) with picnic area. 

Gardens

The grounds at Bodelwyddan Castle & Park are a very special feature. With formal walled gardens to relax in, a maze to get lost in! A beautiful woodland walk, rare First World War practice trenches a Welsh fruit orchard and picnic areas.

One of our most popular attractions with our young visitors is Rabbit Wood our adventure playground, included as one of the top ten in the UK by 'The Independent'.

Workshops

Foundation Phase Workshops

Toys and games from the past 
This workshop is a really engaging and enjoyable way for our youngest visitors to experience their first museum visit. Pupils discover toys from the past through observation, discussion and play. They hear stories, handle vintage toys, learn how to play long-forgotten games and explore the Victorian Inventions and Amusements Gallery. (Info)

Portrait detective 
Explore our portrait galleries through a wide range of learning activities and play.This session combines a tour and workshop to encourage pupils to observe and investigate the relationships between people and the objects depicted with them in their portraits. (Info)

The Victorian housekeeper 
For Foundation Phase through to KS2 (adapted to suit different ages)
It is 1850 and Mrs Humphries is housekeeper at Bodelwyddan Castle. She is the most senior female servant both loved and feared by her staff. She knows all the ins and outs of life above and below stairs.This fascinating and entertaining tour involves dressing up, role play and object handling, giving pupilsan opportunity to experience some of the differences between the lives of the Victorian rich and poor.

The world about us 
This multi-sensory workshop is all about exploring, creating and playing with materials and textures and trying out new ways of making artworks. Pupils look, listen, touch and talk about artworks to develop their vocabulary. The theme is different kinds of landscapes and environments in art—natural, manmade and imagined.

Express yourself 
For Foundation Phase through to KS2 (adapted to suit different ages)

An energetic and engaging workshop that uses techniques from drama to explore meaning in historic paintings. Through larger and smaller group exercises pupils will develop confidence and expressive skills. They will observe paintings in detail, work together to create their own meanings, perform to their peers and reflect on their interpretations.

Marvellous mini beasts 
Our grounds are rich in wildlife with special habitats created to encourage biodiversity. Pupils learn to identify mini beasts, where and how they live, what their ‘jobs’ are, and seasonal changes. Activities include mini beast hunt, observation sheets, drawing and making colourful three-dimensional mini beasts inspired by what they have seen.

Birds and bees 
A workshop inspired by the bird hide and bee hives in our woodland. Let us take you on a sensory woodland journey observing rare and common birds in their natural habitat. We will be listening, looking, mark making and recording our findings. Find out why we keep bees in our orchard and discover their secret language of dance. 

KS2 Workshops

The Victorian housekeeper 
For Foundation Phase through to KS2 (adapted to suit different ages)

It is 1850 and Mrs Humphries is housekeeper at Bodelwyddan Castle. She is the most senior female servant both loved and feared by her staff. She knows all the ins and outs of life above and below stairs.This fascinating and entertaining tour involves dressing up, role play and object handling, giving pupils an opportunity to experience some of the differences between the lives of the Victorian rich and poor.

Castle work life 
Discover some of the jobs people did who worked outdoors during Victorian times. Pupils will investigate archaeology at Bodelwyddan Castle and learn about work life in an age before technology, drawing comparisons with the lives we lead today. Themes include industry, food and lifestyle.

Sensing sculpture 
Explore and discover historic and contemporary sculptures in all shapes, sizes, styles and materials. Learn about different techniques, the artistic process and how things are made. Develop an artist’s sketch book and use your ideas to create a three-dimensional artwork in response to what you have seen, using mixed materials.

Discovering wildlife 
At Bodelwyddan Castle we have over 400 different recorded species living and growing in our grounds, including many endangered species. Discover how we create special wildlife habitats and why we care and protect the environment. Find out about seasonal changes. Learn how to become a nature detective and document your discoveries in a nature journal.

Patterns in nature 
Take inspiration fromour historic galleries and discover how designers, such as William Morris and Burne-Jones, created stylised patterns from nature using simplified and repeated shapes.Pupils create their own designs through drawing exercises, learn about traditional woodblock printing, develop their own designs and produce original prints.

Express yourself 
For Foundation Phase through to KS2 (adapted to suit different ages)
An energetic and engaging workshop that uses techniques from drama to explore meaning in historic paintings. Through larger and smaller group exercises pupils will develop confidence and expressive skills. They will observe paintings in detail, work together to create their own meanings, perform to their peers and reflect on their interpretations.

Investigating portraits 
Explore and be inspired by over 100 portraits from our displays. This session combines a tour and workshop to encourage pupils todevelop their observation and enquiry skills. Pupils look for clues in portraits and what they reveal about the artist and sitter through discussion, role play and drawing.They then create their own portraits in two and three dimensions.

Words and things 
A session that makes creative writing fun and gives pupils the confidence to explore and play with spoken and written words and language. Through warm up games and progressively more advanced writing activities, pupils will use artefacts, group discussions and dramatic readings to inspire their own poetry.