Haverfordwest Castle Community Engagement Project Report

In 2022, Pembrokeshire County Council was awarded a £10,000 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out Community Engagement on the future of Haverfordwest Castle.

This project aimed to cross the barriers to involvement with heritage and create a legacy of diverse and confident voices that inform Haverfordwest Castle’s redevelopment, how it is used, and how people engage with it and volunteer. Consequently, the Castle heritage will be better shared, understood and used and therefore more highly valued and cared for.

The live community engagement period was from July until mid-October 2022. The project successfully engaged more than 1,000 people who offered their views and ideas about how the site could be developed.

The project demonstrated a high degree of local pride in Haverfordwest Castle. 791 people surveyed said that preserving and sharing the heritage of Haverfordwest Castle mattered to them. 88% of respondents felt that the Castle should be better used and maintained. Over a third of people said they would be interested in future volunteering opportunities at the Castle and 75 people said they would like to learn practical heritage conservation skills.

Everyone involved had the opportunity to say what sort of activities they would like to see developed at the Castle and there were a number of focus groups to explore ideas for an exhibition to be located in the former Grade II listed Gaol.

Mike Cavanagh, Head of Culture, Leisure, Tourism and Registration Services said:

“We’re delighted to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. This study shows that there is a lot of support in the town to regenerate the Castle. It is an integral part of Haverfordwest’s rich history and the public have given us very useful feedback to include in our plans”.

The full report is available to download on this page.