New measures to protect Sandal Castle after visitors damage masonry work

Wakefield Council is carrying out extra work at Sandal Castle to make the site safer for visitors and to deter climbing which is damaging the monument.

Some visitors have been spotted at the top of the Great Hall and the Lodging Chamber on various occasions. Following consultation with Historic England, it was agreed that masonry work could be carried out at lower levels to make both structures more difficult to scale.

Coun Jacqui Speight, portfolio holder for culture, sport and leisure, said: “We have a contractor on site carrying out conservation work to the monument. This is phase two of a £730,000 project which the council has funded to preserve our heritage for current and future generations.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Once we had erected scaffolding around the structures and could get a closer look, we realised that the some areas were in a far worse state than we realised with stones having been damaged and even dislodged by climbers.

“Unfortunately, some visitors risk their safety by climbing the monument and we know of at least one occasion when the fire service has had to come to rescue a child from the top. We have decided to carry out anti-climb work in order to protect the public, as well as the monument.”

Additional work to be undertaken is to reinforce the six wells on site and to remove litter from inside them.

This work can be carried out within the budget for the current works at the castle. But it will mean that the project completion will be delayed slightly until late summer.