Guildford Castle is a missed opportunity
Article 1: Guildford Castle Series
I feel Guildford could do much more with the castle and use it to promote the town. Over the next few weeks in a series of articles you can discover why I believe this.
Guildford Castle may not be on the scale of Windsor or the Tower of London but it is nevertheless a prominent landmark and an icon of Guildford. As an attraction, it could be even better, enhancing the appeal of a trip to Guildford and supporting the High Street. It could be improved at relatively little cost and all that is required is for the Council and community to collaborate in the way they do so successfully at the annual Heritage Open Days event.
But will anything happen? It saddens me that Guildford doesn’t do more to celebrate its history. The museum is stuck in the 1970s, in fact most of it would be familiar to a visitor from the 1950s. Heritage Open Days held every September is a great event but it only happens once as year. Guildford Borough Council controls most of the town’s heritage from museum collections and paintings through to key buildings like the castle, Guildhall and Guildford House but seems to struggle to know what to do with them. Most Councillors seem to see heritage as a problem rather than an opportunity. They cannot see a way forward.
But there is a way forward if you look at the castle!
There are loads of brilliant stories people just do not know about and over the next few weeks I will be sharing some. Did you know that Guildford Castle features in the legends of King Arthur or the story of Magna Carta? And thanks to a local virtual reality developer, HistoricVR we now have a VR model of the medieval castle with imagery that they have kindly allowed offered to the town. (Watch video of Historic VR model). I believe there is a real opportunity to improve the castle displays in an affordable way and use them to get the heritage service moving forward.
So what needs to happen? I don’t think the town should be investing a lot of money straight away. It can’t. But it could stage an event very similar to what is achieved each year at Heritage Open Days. (Watch video of Heritage Open Days 2023). Imagine coming to the castle on a Saturday to discover stories, watch a short film about the castle, go on a short tour led by members of the Town Guides, see a display of medieval combat, meet some Victorian characters and enjoy music from the bandstand whilst eating an ice cream or having a picnic. A well promoted event could be used to demonstrate the potential of the castle, create case studies that can then be used to win grants and sponsorship.
But time is running out. The council needs to make cuts and may soon start closing and selling off key parts of the heritage service. This could destroy opportunities for the future, kill off public support and leave the town paying for a castle and Guildhall few people visit and employing heritage staff to catalogue collections people never see. Money is of course tight, everyone is doing their best and economy is needed but if the town uses its heritage resources intelligently it can enrich community life, promote the town and support the High Street.
I hope you enjoy the stories that I want to share over the next few weeks, and I hope they open up conversations between the council and the community.