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15 June, 2009

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Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust

Gwrych to Feature in New Documentary

The documentary is called ‘Time May Change Me’ and is set to be aired on Monday December 1st, 7.30pm, BBC2 Wales.

An extract from an article taken from the North Wales Weekly News by David Simister, November 20th 2008:

An Abergele landmark will be the focus of a new documentary on the BBC.

Gwynedd-based production company Chwarel say the half-hour documentary on Gwrych Castle, located near the town, is the most exhaustive film ever made about the historic site.

Producer Sioned Morys said: “I’ve been trying to get the BBC to feature Gwrych in a documentary for years so when I heard the site had been sold to its current owners I decided to film it off my own back for this series.

“The series features people and places which have been shown in previous BBC programmes, and, using footage recorded of the site from a series made in the 1970s, you really get to see how it’s gone into its present derelict state.

“It’s a full-on history of a site that’s very important to the people of North Wales.”

A team from Chwarel spent more than a year filming progress on the site, under new owner Clayton Hotels, for the show Time May Change Me, a 10-part BBC series which explores people and places featured in the broadcaster’s previous documentaries.

Gwrych Castle had in previous decades fallen into a state of disrepair but saw a resurgence last year when Yorkshire-based firm Clayton Hotels bought the site for £850,000 under plans to turn it into a five-star country house hotel.

Historian Mark Baker, an Abergele resident who has written several books on the site and was involved in a campaign to save the site during the 1990s, is also featured in the programme and is pleased the castle is being featured.

“It’s going to bring the restoration of Gwrych to the public eye so I’m really pleased Chwarel and the BBC have decided to make this documentary,” he said.

ABERGELE’S HISTORIC GWRYCH CASTLE TO
BECOME FIVE STAR COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL

Ambitious plans by Yorkshire-based Clayton Hotels to transform one of Wales’s major historic buildings into a five-star country house hotel have been welcomed by Welsh Assembly Culture Minister and Clwyd West Assembly Member Alun Pugh.

Gwrych Castle – a Grade I listed building and a structure of national importance – has fallen into disrepair over the last 17 years. However it will soon be restored to its former glory accommodating over 90 luxury rooms, a world-class health & beauty spa, a fine dining restaurant and banqueting, wedding & conferencing facilities.

Clayton Hotels purchased Gwrych Castle for £850,000, and the company is anticipating that the entire project will require a total investment of £6m.

Mr Pugh said: “Local residents have witnessed a unique historical building slowly falling down as a result of years of neglect under overseas ownership. In my meetings with the company I have received assurances that Clayton Hotels’ plans will fully respect the unique architectural features of Gwrych Castle. It is anticipated that the new hotel will also directly and indirectly create over 100 quality jobs, boosting the local economy.

“Clayton Hotels has both the vision and financial backing to ensure that the castle once more becomes a focal point for local, national and international visitors to the area.”

Clayton Hotels is a sister company of Clayton Homes, a property and construction company based in Elland, near Halifax, which is renowned for sympathetically restoring and developing former mill buildings. Gwrych Castle is the first property in the Clayton Hotels portfolio and will be the company’s flagship hotel.

Kris Clayton, chairman of both companies, added: “I formed Clayton Hotels to provide people with the ultimate country house hotel experience and Gwrych Castle will enable us to set those new standards.

“The castle is a superb example of romantic architecture, and we are hugely excited about the restoration project we are about to undertake. Not only will it breathe life back into the building, but it will also provide the area with the very best that the hotel & leisure industry has to offer. I will personally oversee the restoration project and also select the management team to ensure that Gwrych Castle becomes synonymous with excellence.”

Although Gwrych Castle is the first hotel in Clayton Hotels’ portfolio the company is already looking at a number of other possible country house locations throughout the UK.

The restoration and development project by Clayton Hotels at Gwrych Castle is subject to planning and is anticipated to take two to three years to complete. For further information visit www.clayton-hotels.co.uk